Flash Forward: Naruto Edition
by gregorybryce9
Summary: The Konoha Twelve finds themselves in the hokage's office the day after their teams are formed. Why? Well to see the future, what else! Watch as the rookies and team Gai see glimpses of their destinies with their senseis and parents. Tears are shed and laughs are shared but bonds are formed.
1. Chapter 1 - A Forbidden Technique

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Naruto** **series. All rights are reserved for Kishimoto** **as the series are his sole you.**

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Spiky sun-kissed hair stood out among others in the market area of Konoha. Bustling and hustling, civilians and ninjas alike went about their duties. Boisterous market men shouted their products and prices with a large grin on their face. Curious customers went from shop to shop to find what they were looking for. Shinobi are varying ranks headed towards the gates with packs on their back. And unseen to the eye, ANBU forces leapt from building to building, slipping in and out of the shadows.

This is the scene we find Naruto Uzumaki. The blonde haired boy walked with a loopy grin on his face. Whisker-like birthmarks stretched wide to accommodate his smile. Cerulean eyes filled to the brim with eagerness. The boy was short for his age (HEY!) and certainly not the most fashion-forward person (WATCH IT, BUDDY!). Blue sandals led to orange, shin-length trousers. Garbed in a bright orange jacket with blue shoulders and white collars, the newly-minted genin strolled down the street, his hands interlocked around the back of his head. On the forehead where he once wore green goggles, the boy know proudly donned the forehead protector of Konoha. The jubilant boy was unaware of the mild glares sent his way or the wide berth others he passed gave him. No, he couldn't care less about that now. He was finally a ninja, dattebayo!

The boy finally arrived at his destination. In front of him stood a tall red tower. Circular shaped buildings littered the small compound, the most significant of them being the one that bore the insignia of 'Fire', the Hokage's Tower. The boy had woken up early this morning on the others of his new jounin sensei, Kakashi Hatake. According to the silver-haired man, it would seem that the hokage had requested an important meeting with the rookies of this year, so they were to meet in the Hokage's office half an hour past seven.

The boy entered the massive construct, and found himself walking along the curved, green padded hallway towards the office. Several ninjas passed him, some clutching paperwork close to their chests while others merely walking around. His steps echoed slightly throughout the hall, and Naruto soon found himself in front of the large wooden door leading to his destination. Forgoing protocol and general etiquette, he simply pushed the door wide.

"Mornin' Old Man!" the male jinchuuriki greeted his pseudo-grandfather.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was a man long past his prime, his current self a mere shadow to the man who was hailed as the 'God of Shinobi'. But despite his recline in power, the man was still revered as an important figure in Konoha. His once brown spiky hair had washed away to a ashen gray. His tanned tone was now lighter and wrinkles and liver spots adorned his face. A grim expression was etched into his face as he looked at the individuals sitting in front of him in his office.

Varying sets of persons watched with varying emotions running through them. Ranging from fear to slight nervousness to absolute aloofness. Seated closest to the Hokage were eleven children. Each had a different set of gear on but one thing similar about them all were the forehead protectors they wore, signifying them as shinobi of Konoha. These children were: Neji Hyuga, Rock Lee, TenTen, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha. Behind these kids were adults who were all wondering why they were here. These adults included: Might Guy, Asuma Sarutobi, Kurenai Yuhi, Kakashi Hatake, Hiashi Hyuga, Yoshino Nara, Shikaku Nara, Choza Akimichi, Inoichi Yamanaka, Tsume Inuzuka, Shibi Aburame, Kizashi Haruno and Mebuki Haruno.

Each of these adults were the respective jounin sensei and parents of the eleven kids today. The Hokage had requested their presence for some reason only known to himself.

"Hokage-sama, if I may ask, why are we here?" The red eyed Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha asked her aged superior.

"All in due Kurenai. We're waiting for one more person to arrive," Hiruzen answered.

"Ha, never thought I'd see the day when Kakashi is earlier than someone," laughed a bearded man, a lit cigarette in his mouth.

"No doubt that baka would be late," Sakura fumed.

"Maa Maa, Sakura. I'm sure Naruto has a good -"Kakashi started to explain before the door swung open and a mop of golden hair stood more than the bright orange atrocity he called a jumpsuit.

"Mornin' Old Man!" the aforementioned Naruto shouted in greeting. With a feral grin, the vulpine youth flashed the peace sign at his hokage.

"Good morning to you too, Naruto-kun. I'm glad to see you made it," the Hokage spoke, his wrinkled features seemingly vanished for a moment as he smiled at the son of his predecessor.

"Of course I'd make it, Old Man,"

"Well, seeing that you're here, we can finally start," the homage started. He looked at the other occupants in the room while Naruto wedged himself between his teammates.

His smile withered as a pronounced frown took its place. Hiruzen got up from his seat, before closing the door Naruto had left open.

"Now that we're all here, I'd like to explain why I've called this meeting in the first place," seeing that he had their undivided attention, the military leader continued.

"I'm an old man, and I'm nothing like I used to be back in my prime. Fortunately, there is no need for me to be as active as back in the past due to the somewhat peaceful era we're in," Hiruzen began. "But, there I'd no guarantee that this will always be so. I fear that there might be trouble in the future. My senseis had worked towards a peaceful time and both had achieved it somewhat, but if there is one thing I've learnt from then is that there will always be war, no matter the era."

At this, some of the battle-hardened veterans had nod there head in agreement. While it would be great to achieve true peace, that was too idealistic in the shinobi.

"I understand what you are saying Hokage-sama, but what does that have to do with us being here?"

"I'll be addressing that now, Shikaku," the 'God of Shinobi' spoke. "You see, these twelve young ones in front of us represent the future off our village and each of you are the ones tasked in their upbringing, so for what I have planned for today, it is necessary for you all to be here,"

Sarutobi gauges their reactions which altered from embarrassment to nervousness at his diction. What could be so important that not only all the rookies and the team before but their jounin senseis and parents had to be present?

Lost in their thoughts, they had missed when the Hokage activated the privacy seals in the office. But they didn't miss when he closed the binds.

"What we say, do and discover in this room, stays in this room, are we clear?" The man's voice was quick and sharp, channeling reserves of his strength that gave him his feared title.

"There are many techniques in this world that have been banned due to their nature. One such of this is a Space/Time jutsu that we will be using to today,"

"And what is the purpose of this jutsu?" Kakashi asked, being the most familiar with these types of techniques. With his senseis being the 'Yellow Flash' himself, plus the ability of Kamui, he was head over shoulders compared to others when it came to Space/Time techniques.

"To see the future," the Hokage answered without hesitation.

...

...

...

"WHAT!" Sakura shouted. If she heard correctly, she would've been sure that the Hokage said that they we're gonna see into the future.

"Yes, Sakura-chan, we will be able to see into the future with the usage of this technique. Specifically, all of yours" Sarutobi spoke while eyeing all of the Konoha Twelve.

"But the possible repre-" Inoichi tried to explain before he was cut off by the Hokage instead.

"Inoichi, this is my decision,' Sarutobi eyes then narrowed dangerously, "or are you opposing my rules?"

"No, Hokage-sama."

"Good,"

Naruto, having heard everything the Hokage had said, had only one question to.

"Ne, Old Man. If I do this, will it tell me if I become Hokage or not?" The cheerful boy asked.

"Quite possibly, yes," Sarutobi answered.

"Then what are waiting for, -ttebayo. LETS GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD!"

Hiruzen smiled and nodded at his ninja's request. Drawing for sealing kit, he became mapping out a matrix on the floor in front of the chairs, before repeating the process on a much border scale on the wall. When he finished, he brought his hands together in a hand sign. The seals glowed blue on his command and the room was illuminated at the brief light show. Hiruzen turned back Naruto with a smile on his face.

"Alright Naruto-kun, since you're so eager, how about you go first?"

The boy agreed immediately. In the blink of an eye, he was out of seat and was poking around at the seal.

"Uhm... how does this work Old Man?" Naruto sheepishly grinned while the Hokage grinned at his pseudo-grandson's antics.

"Just stand on top of the seal and channel some chakra to your feet, when the seal turns blue, you should stop, okay?"

"Got it. Let's do this, into the future, -ttebayo!"

Within seconds, the seal glowed blue and the other seal on the wall began to change into a small screen before flickering to life...

 _To be continued..._


	2. Chapter 2 - Naruto

**Disclaimer: Gregorybryce9** **does not own any of the Naruto** **series. Thank you and enjoy.**

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 **It was a cool morning in the Konoha. The Great Ninja village hidden deep in the Land of Fire, surrounded by the massive trees that led to its name, was a picturesque scene of prosperity. The low cawing of birds as the flew overhead and the gentle breeze that carried the leaves to its will. The village had prospered throughout the years as many new buildings were erected since the day of the Honourable First Hokage.**

"Wow... it really does show us the future. I can't believe it," Ino commented with an awestruck look on her face. The blonde rookie was not alone as many others around her had the same expression to match.

"This is an ingenious technique," Hiashi credited. Before this moment, he couldn't have fathom such a technique.

But he also saw the need to ban such a technique. The consequences were extreme.

 **In the village, persons could be seen walking along their merry way, a smile on their face and a jig in their step. But there was a collective set of individuals however that caught most persons' attention.**

"Something tells me that Naruto is coming onto the scene soon enough,"

 **Various shinobi and civilian alike watched with barely concealed amusement as their stared at the hokage's monument. The large monument, which had the faces of the past hokages carved into the aide of a cliff, overlooked the entire village. Whenever one would look upon this monument, a strong sense of inspiration and pride would swell in their hearts of being apart of this family, the one that bared the Will of Fire.**

 **But now, if someone were to look at the monument, they would guffaw at what had happened to the massive construct. Why, you may ask? Simple, the Hokage Monument had been defaced. Yet again.**

Hiruzen could not help but sigh in exasperation at the blonde ninja who was sheepishly grinning with his hands at the nape of his neck.

"Baka!" Sakura shouted at her teammate, "Even when you've grown up you're still an idiot!" Sakura chastised.

"But... but... Sakura-chan, how do know it's even me?" Naruto pleaded in his defense. Sure that was something he would do, hell he had done it already.

"Of course it's you!" Sakura continued.

 **"Boruto really outdid himself this time," a civilian commented.**

And with this statement, Sakura flushed in embarrassment at her previous statement while the blonde danced in his seat.

 **"I could only wonder what Naruto would say about this. Like father like son," another voice inputted.**

And just like that, Naruto stopped dancing in his seat. His grin gone and a firm line set on his face. If he had heard right, then that meant...

"I HAVE A SON!?" the shinobi asked with eyes as wide as saucers.

"Troublesome... of course it would be your son who caused so much trouble... what a drag,"

 **Hanging from a rope, dangling in front of the hokage's monument, was a familiar mop of blonde hair. In one hand was a red paint bucket while in the other, a paintbrush. The boy was clad in black jacket with red accents left open to reveal a white undershirt. With black shinobi pants accompanied by black sandals, the figure was happily moving from one face to the next to next as he mercilessly graffiti the stone faces. The boy had blonde hair that was smooth along the length but spiky at the tips, resembling a leaf. Cerulean eyes sparkled with mirth and, not unlike his father, the boy possessed whisker birthmarks.**

"Wow... I gotta say, the kid looks a lot like you Naruto," Ino commented offhandedly. And it was true, she could easily see the familiar resemblance. "Although, it begs to question who the mother is,"

Naruto paid no attention to her, his eyes fixed at his son. Not noticing a blushing Hyuga who was surely hoping for a certain possibility.

 **Reaching the sixth, Boruto prepared his brush to paint the face of his father's sensei, Kakashi Hatake.**

"No way,"

The orange book had fallen out of the Copy-nin's likewise the cigarette stick that had made residence between the lips of Asuma.

"I become... Hokage?" Kakashi asked no one in particular.

Everyone had their eyes on the jounin who apparently becomes their Hokage.

 **That was until a hand clamped down on his and irate voice rang true. Boruto couldn't help the grin that formed on his face s he turned towards the speaker of the voice.**

 **"Dad! You came," the prankster exclaimed at the sudden appearance of his father before he pouted, "But that's unfair,** _ **Shushin**_ **isn't allowed,"**

 **Naruto Uzumaki glared half-heatedly at his son. He wasn't angry, it would be hypocritical if he was. But he was sure as hell annoyed at the boy's antics. His blond hair had been cut short since his youth. Not completely abandoning his love for orange, Naruto wore a long sleeved button-down shirt with black stripes along the cuffs. Similarly like his son, Naruto also wore black shinobi pants with black sandals. Thrown over this was his pride and joy, the Hokage's cloak.**

"YATTA!" Naruto shouted in glee. There was no doubt about it now, Naruto had become the Hokage. "~I'm the Hokage, I'm the Hokage~" Naruto sang while most of the others had a gobsmacked look on their face.

"Congratulations, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen smiled, his eyes wrinkled in a prideful glee.

"No way... the dobe becomes Hokage, impossible," Sasuke whispered, completely ignored by the dancing genin.

 _'Congratulations, Naruto-kun_.' A certain girl thought.

 **A fist crashed onto the boy's head. Wincing under the blow, Boruto allowed his Uzumaki blood to run rampant.**

 **"What the hell was that for, shitty Old Man!"**

"What was that ya brat!"

 **"What was that ya brat!" The Hokage shouted at the boy.**

 **Boruto pouted and tilted his head away from his father. He would never say it out loud but Boruto loved his father and was upset that he hardly got to see him anymore because of his job. So whenever he could, Boruto would replicate his father's pranks so he could get his attention.**

"That's so sad," Ino cooed, and the rest of the kunoichi couldn't help but agree. It was obvious to see that the boy was hurting from not being able to see his father and Asuma couldn't help but relate.

 **Naruto's glare softened and in one fluid motion, he grabbed his son and jumped up towards the top of the Fourth's head, a place Naruto spent most of his time.**

 **And right now, Naruto could see the irony. Whenever Naruto had felt lonely because he didn't know who his parents were**

Naruto shrunk under the gaze of his classmates when they heard that, to them, Naruto was always so happy, so it was surprising to hear about this side of him.

 **he would always come here to vent on top of the Fourth's head, not knowing that it was the same Fourth Hokage who was his father.**

" **Look out there, tell me, what do you see?"**

 **"The village," Boruto answered his father.**

 **"No," Naruto shook his head, "What I see is my family. Whenever I look out my window, I see my brothers and sisters going along their businesses. I see my aunts and uncles living in peace. And most importantly, I see all my children, playing and training, and in their hearts burns the Will of Fire. This village is my family, and so are you. So I want you know, Boruto, even if you don't get to see me a lot, I still care about my family. About all you, your mother and your sister. Okay,"**

 **Naruto finished his speech with a wide grin on his face and his eyes shut, missing the tears that welled at the corners of his son's eyes.**

"That was profound," Kurenai spoke through the silence that had settled as they listened to Naruto's speech. It was strange to believe that it was the same blond menace that loved to prank others would be the one who spoke like that. It would seem that the boy had grown monumentally throughout the years.

 **Naruto then stood back up, before placing his hands on Boruto's shoulders.**

 **"How about this, if you clean this up before the Five Kage Meeting starts, I'll teach you one of my techniques," Naruto bribed his son.**

 **"You promise,"**

 **"You have my word,"**

 **Boruto grinned, just like his father did before him. With a loud "Dattebasa!", he was off the side of the cliff and getting ready to work.**

The connection faded out and everyone was left in a slight state of awe. But who could blame them? They had just seen the future. The future!

Not only had Kakashi apparently become Hokage, but so had Naruto. The Dead-Last. So it would be sensible to believe that they were in a state of shock, which was only broken when one Sakura Haruno had jumped up and went towards the seal to show her future.

 _'Maybe I'll see if I end up with Sasuke-kun._


	3. Chapter 3 - Sakura

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor any of the characters who appear in this story. All rights go to Kishimoto.

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Sakura stood atop the sealing matrix that the Third Hokage had scribbled on the floor of his office. Clasping her hands together, she sent a pulse of chakra towards her feet and the seemingly random scribbles glowed blue before the seals on the wall once again glowed just like they had before. This time over, they presented a different scene...

 **A much older Sakura sighed as a black crow flew overhead, a soft caw echoing throughout the large backyard. The sun had reached its peak altitude in a clear sky. A soft breeze blew stray leaves in a restless dance in the wind, gliding lazily around the woman of the house.**

Naruto, seeing a much older Sakura, blushed at the woman displayed in the projection. The adult version of his teammate was no doubt more beautiful than his pre-pubescent comrade.

"Wow Forehead! You grew up pretty nicely," Ino complimented her best-friend turned love rival. Sakura was about to say something back to Ino but the Yamanaka beat her to it, "But you still have that massive forehead!"

A large tic mark bulged on the pinkette's head at Ino's backhanded compliment.

"Shut it, Ino-pig!"

 **A sigh left Sakura's lips. She tilted her head to the left slightly, causing her chin-length pink hair to sway along her movements. Emerald eyes reflected a sense of longing for something. A form-fitting sleeveless crimson kimono dress hugged her body and stopped just below her knees. Thrown over all this was a white apron, hinting at domestic work. There was light sagging beneath her eyes, evidence to her work hours at the hours yet a light smile still adorned her lips. The kunoichi stood at respectable height of just over 160 cm. The last identifiable feature of the woman was the violet diamond mark in the middle of her forehead.**

"Well... this is interesting," Kurenai remarked at the sight of the mark on Sakura's forehead.

"What is Kurenai-sensei?" asked the ever-shy Hyuga heiress, barely being able to utter the question. Who could blame her? Not only was she was in the presence of her father, but the Hokage and Naruto-kun of all persons was here as well. It was a miracle the girl hadn't fainted yet!

"She means the mark on Sakura's forehead," the Third had answered for the heiress, after all, it was his student who had created the technique. "It's called the Strength of a Hundred Seal. It is an incredibly powerful technique that can only be done by persons with perfect chakra control. In fact, the only person who has this mark is my student, Tsunade, one of the Sannin,"

All the members of the Konoha Twelve had their jaws on the floor. Sakura, the raging fangirl, had somehow replicated a technique known only to the strongest kunoichi. The future is really not what they expected. First Naruto was Hokage, then Sakura is super-strong. What next, the five countries have some sort of alliance.

Pfft! Yeah right!

"I think it goes without saying that Sakura managed to become Tsunade-sama's apprentice sometime in the future," Kakashi commented.

 **She continued what it was she was doing, namely, hanging wet clothes to dry in the sun. Executing the task while whistling a tune, she was unprepared for when the backdoor slid open and a dark-haired girl stepped outside. Coarse black hair styled in large bang that was swept to the left side and hair cut at the nape of the neck. The girl wore glasses, pink in colour, over coal eyes. The girl wore a dress similar to her mother', but where her mother's had no noticeable design, hers had a zipper that ran its length down the middle. The dress stopped mid-thigh to reveal white shorts. Knee-length socks led to kunoichi issue sandals.**

 **"Welcome home, Sarada," Sakura greeted her daughter.**

Sasuke had frozen when Sarada had entered the picture. The reason being, the girl looked like an Uchiha. The facial structure might have been reminiscent of his pink-haired teammate, but those eyes and hair were undoubtedly that of an Uchiha. But that couldn't be. The only way that girl was an Uchiha was if he was the father. And if he was the father... then the mother was... the mother was...

His train of thoughts were de-railed by the loud squeal Sasuke had distinctly recognized as a fangirl. His eyes met Sakura's, and he could see she had reached the same conclusion as him.

'Oh sweet tomatoes on a stick, this can't be happening'

"Yes! I marry Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted with glee, not noticing the seething fury of one Yamanaka.

"No you don't!"

"Yes I do," Sakura retorted, before she wiggled her brows, "~And so does Sasuke-kun~" Sakura joked while poking fun at her rival. Yep, she was gonna brag.

"I don't get it. Why do you guys think that Sakura married Sasuke?" Naruto asked. In his mind, Sakura was gonna marry him. If he could get hokage, why couldn't he get Sakura as well.

Sasuke, who had been silently watching, decided to finally speak up. "Because dobe... that girl there is definitely an Uchiha,"

"We don't know that!"

 **Sakura spun to greet her daughter, revealing the Uchiha clan crest on her back.**

"Ha! Told ya!"

b **ut stopped when she noticed the crestfallen expression on her daughter's face. Smiling, Sakura knelt before her daughter before cupping her chin.**

 **"What's wrong? Did Boruto prank you again?"**

 **"No! It has nothing to do with Boruto did this time," Sarada told her mother, "And it's not like I care what that idiot does anyway!"**

 **"That's not what you told me last time~" Sakura teased, then giggled when she saw the furious blush on her daughter's face. It was too easy to tease her daughter. Although she wondered what her husband would have thought if he knew his daughter had a crush on Naruto's son.**

There was no need for that because the Uchiha was fuming. Glaring at the blond menace beside him, Sasuke told him exactly what he was thinking.

"You keep your son. AWAY. FROM. MY. DAUGHTER!"

Needless to say, Naruto got the message.

 **"It's not that," Sarada explained. "It's... well... I wonder... " Sarada tried to explain before stopping. She had no idea how to confront the problem she was facing without making her mother uncomfortable.**

 **"What is it Sarada? You can tell me," Sakura prompted.**

 **"Well, it's that I saw Boruto today with his dad...**

"THAT'S ME!"

"Shut up baka and let my daughter talk!"

"H-Hai, Sakura-chan,"

 **"... and Shikadai was with his dad...**

"Who's Shikadai?"

"Probably my kid," the lazy Nara (aren't they all) concluded. After all, his family was notorious for naming all their kids with the first term 'Shika-'. Probably too lazy to think of a different name.

" **... and I was wonder-"**

 **"-what your father is like?" Sakura finished for her daughter, and if the pained expression on her daughter's face was anything to go by, she was right.**

 **Sakura stood up and sighed, before she led her daughter inside and settled her on the couch. Sakura went into the master bedroom which she would have shared with her husband if he was around. But that wasn't something she would dwell on now, she had something else on mind. Shuffling through a myriad of stuff, she finally found what she was looking. A black photo-album. She went back down the stairs, and met the curious eyes of her lone daughter. Her pride and joy.**

 **"Come here," she motioned Sarada closer. With that done, she opened the album to reveal a picture of a certain team. In the middle of the picture was a smiling Sakura with her eyes closed. To her left and right were Sasuke and Naruto who were too busy scowling at each other to pay attention to the camera. Behind them was Kakashi with his hands on both Sasuke's and Naruto's head, clearly amused at the two boy's antics.**

 **"As you can, you're father isn't the best at showing his feelings, but..." Sakura flipped through the pages to show another picture, one of an exhausted Sakura laying in a bed yet a bright on her face. Seated in a chair beside her was a man with black hair with a long bang covering one of his eyes. The man was too busy smiling at the small bundle in his arms. A baby. "... Sarada, know that your father will always love you. He might not have been here for a few years but what he's doing now is very important. So when he comes home, you can spend all the time you want with him, okay,"**

"S-S-Such a happy moment," the Hinata said. She was happy for Sakura got the one she wanted. But was even happier that this meant that Naruto hadn't ended up with his crush so that meant she had a better chance now.

Sasuke, however had a different reaction. He slowly and subtly grabbed Sakura's hands before smiling at his future wife. Blushing and looking in the other direction, he muttered to her, "Thanks... for what you said,"

"Awww Kizashi, look at our little girl all grown up!" Mebuki Haruno exclaimed while grabbing her husband's hands, effectively ruining the moment.

 **"Sure mom," Sarada agreed.**

 **"Hey mom?"**

 **"Yeah, honey?"**

 **"Is it true that Lord Seventh was Dad's first kiss?"**

The unexpected question had both boys sputtering while the others who had seen the incident cracked up laughing.

 **At the other side of the village, Naruto suddenly felt a tingle run down his spine, one he knew distinctively. Sakura was angry. At him. And for some reason, he blamed his absent teammate.**

 **"Damn you, Sasuke!"**

With those last words, the screen flickered out of existence and reverted back to the sealing matrix.

"Sooo, Who's next.." Kiba asked.


	4. Chapter 4 - Ino

**I do not own any of the Naruto** **series. If I did, I would not be writing fanfiction** **and I would be filthy rich at this point. All rights go to the sole owner Kishimoto.**

 **Now, on to the story.**

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Ino was fuming. She could not believe what that last glimpse had shown her. How was it possible that Forehead girl had won Sasuke over her? She knew for a fact that she was by far the prettier of the two so why in the seven hells did Sasuke choose Sakura over her. Perhaps the forehead girl had drugged her poor Sasuke-kun or trapped him in a genjutsu. _Yeah, that must be it!_ she thought as she watched the current Sakura draw closer to the current Sasuke. And surprisingly enough, he didn't pull away or chastise her for her advances. _That does it!_ Ino raged in her mind, _Don't worry Sasuke-kun, your beautiful Ino-chan will save you from that forehead!_

So with her mission in mind, the blond Yamanaka rushed to the sealing matrix before flooding it with her chakra, smirking as the screen flashed to life. _Just you wait Sakura, Sasuke will be mine again!_

Tis' the mind of a fan-girl.

 **"Where the hell is he!" an irate Ino** **roared at apparently no one.**

Most of the occupants were taken back from Ino's loud voice. Meanwhile, a certain Nara muttered something about blondes getting more troublesome in the future.

 **The resident Yamanaka** **was not the happiest of campers at the moment. Her beautiful face contorted into a fierce scowl, the female member of the Shika-Ino-Cho** **formation glared at apparently nothing, not noticing the (ahem) big-boned** **man inching away from her with each passing second. The man was plump, and stood proud at an respectable height just short of 180 cm. Dressed in red clothing with grey armor, the man clenched his bag of chips and moved towards his male counterpart. Standing beside him with an expression that said "I'd rather be anywhere but here" the figure sighed at his teammate's loud screech. Black shinobi** **pants that led to a plain black t-shirt, everything about the man screamed "I'm too lazy to care". Reaching into the inside pocket of his cream jacket, the man produced a single cigarette.**

"Oh look! It's future us!" Ino squealed as she observed how their future counterparts were dressed. Nodding inwardly, she was pleased with the apparel she would grow up to wear. A common practice amongst the shinobi was the fact that they would buy multiple copies of the same clothing they wore as a sort of trademark for themselves. And her future self surely had style, that she would concur. Wearing a collar-less purple blouse that exposed her midriff, the younger Yamanaka realized that she had grown to abandon the bandages she usually wore around her stomach. This was followed by an ankle length skirt of the same color with somehow gave a seductive charm without exposing any skin. In her terms, _"Absolutely perfect"_.

Her father however had different thoughts, which he was not hesitant to make known.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" he basically screamed,"There is no way I am allowing you to leave the house dressed like that!"

"But daddy-" she tried to protest but was cut off by the over-protective Yamanaka head.

"Listen here, Ino. There is no way, and I mean absolutely no way am I allowing you to ever leave the house like that," he ranted. "I don't know what the hell my future self is thinking but your mother and I completely disagree. Right honey?" At this point the man had turned towards his wife sitting to his right. The quiet woman sat with a small smile on her face. Her brown hair caught in a bun with a few strands framing both sides of her face, the woman had the look and feel of a noble and classy lady.

"I don't know honey, I think she looks splendid," the woman commented, secretly loving the betrayed expression on her husband's face. While she knew he had the best of intentions, she also knew that the man had the habit of overreacting and playing the part of a overprotective papa-bear. And she just loved messing with him. Not that she would admit it out loud though.

"See! Mom agrees with me," Ino defended. _'Plus with the way I look, Sasuke-kun would surely come crawling back to me.'_ she added in her mind.

 **"You're still so troublesome," the smoker of the group drawled. "Plus, none of the other brats are here yet so just relax." The man tried to explain to the mind-walker. Taking a long drag from the smoke stick between his lips, the man was surprised when the cigarette was yanked away. Eyes narrowing in irritation, the man was greeted with the annoyed scowl of the blond kunoichi.**

 **"Unlike your son Shikadai, my little Inojin** **is a obedient child who knows the importance of training," she lectured. Shikamaru** **could only shrug in response. What?! It was true and he wouldn't deny it. His son was a lazy bastard and he was damn proud of it. Hell, he even encouraged it. As long as he didn't turn out to be anything like his mother. Throwing the cigarette to the ground, she proceeded to crush the stick beneath her sandals. "And how many times am I gonna tell you that you should stop smoking. I swear, you're worse than Asuma-sensei!"**

Suddenly Asuma yelped and flew from his seat. Someone had poked him with something sharp. Glancing around, he noticed the glare of a certain red-eyed Genjutsu mistress and silently swore that no matter what, he would not allow Shikamaru to smoke.

At least, not in front of her.

 **"Troublesome blond..." he muttered under his breath. "It wasn't smoking that killed Asuma-sensei," he muttered, before quickly apologizing when he saw the visibly flinch at the mention of their late sensei. "I'm sorry. it's just... "**

 **"Yeah I understand," the Yamanaka** **murmured. The three shared a moment of silence.**

"I-I-I'm dead," Asuma uttered in shock. Sure, he knew the life of a shinobi was usually a short one but to know that you wouldn't live to see your students grow and raise their own family was a whole other level. Shikamaru could only spare a short glance at the man he had come to know as his sensei. Sure, they had only met just yesterday but if his future self was anything to go by, he had come to know the man as a close friend and a treasured comrade.

"Then that means that this is one thing we are to change in the future," Kurenai suddenly spoke up with finality in her tone that showed she would accept no arguments.

 **"Speaking of Asuma-sensei** **how is Mirai** **holding up?"**

"Mirai, who's that?" Kurenai asked, secrestly worried that Asuma was dating another woman before he died.

Kakashi, seeing where Kurenai's line of reasoning was heading, reasoned that a bit of fun wouldn't hurt anyone so he decided to antagonize the younger Sarutobi in the room. "Perhaps she's his lady friend, we may never know,"

Needless to say, Asuma was not amused with the silver haired man trying to mess up his relationship with Kurenai.

 **"She's doing fine," Shikamaru** **answered, drawing another cigarette from his coat. " She just made chunnin** **awhile ago so there is no doubt Kurenai-sensei** **is proud of her. And I'm sure Asuma-sensei** **would be proud too,"**

 **"Of course, any father would be proud," she answered before yanking the new cigarette from Shikamaru's** **lips and giving it the same treatment.**

"I'm a dad!" Asuma exclaimed. The jounin-ranked Sarutobi was near the point of fainting at the moment. First he found out he was going to die soon enough and now he has a daughter. And if he understood the conversation, then the mother was no doubt...

"YOSH! ASUMA AND KURENAI, BOTH OF YOU HAVE SHOWN US THAT YOUR FLAMES WILL SHINE BRIGHTLY. COME LEE! WE MUST TRAIN SO WE TOO CAN MATCH THEIR FLAMES OF YOUTH!" the ever-exuberant Gai shouted, not noticing the red tint on both jounin's faces.

"YES GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

 **"Oi! What was that for!" Shikamaru** **uncharacteristically asked in a loud tone. He was pissed off that she kept taking his cigarettes. Ino** **glared at the pony-tailed** **man and huffed before crossing her arms beneath her sizable bust, "Do you honestly think I'm going to let you smoke yourself to your grave. Come on Choji, tell him how bad smoking is for him,"**

 **The large Akimichi** **glanced at his two teammates. Why was it that they always did this to him? The two would usually get into an argument and would ask him to be the deciding factor. Most times he would usually decide in Ino's** **favor, knowing that Shikamaru** **would simply forgive him the next second. After all, who would want an angry Ino** **on their case. Not him. But this time however, Choji** **chose to simply sit this one out, so he shrugged before digging back into his large bag of chips.**

 **Shikamaru** **smirked at Choji's** **decision, knowing that this action left the trio at an impasse meaning he could do whatever the hell he wanted. Granting himself a victory smirk, Shikamaru** **pulled his last cigarette from the pack and placed it between his lips. Perhaps his fatal mistake was that loud sigh of content or the fact that he blew smoke in the direction of the blond that led to his ultimate defeat. Not too sure what had caused it though, but Shikamaru** **was about to one-upped** **by the mind-walker** **when she decided to use a below-the-belt** **tactic.**

 **A move that easily ranked amongst the likes of 'Do not kick a dude in the nuts'** **in the rule book of dirty tricks, right behind 'Never** **steal Icha** **Icha** **from one Kakashi** **Hatake'. A trick so callous that it brought fear to the married men of the Nara clan for generations (which was also the reason why most persons believed that the Nara men were secretly masochists)**

 **Yep, that's right. She used the wife card.**

 **"~Then maybe I should just tell Temari** **about this then~" she sang sweetly to the horror of Shikamaru.**

 **"You wouldn't,"**

 **"Try me," she prompted. The man glared for a moment before sighing in defeat. Motioning for Choji** **to follow him, he set off in the direction of the village. Under his breath mumbling something about troublesome wives.**

Shikaku shot his son a look of sympathy. "I understand brat. It's a Nara's fate to land ourselves troublesome wives, no matter how unfortunate it is,"

For a man of his intelligence, that was probably the stupidest thing he could have said in that situation, seeing that his wife was right next to him. Poor Shikaku, he never saw the frying pan coming.

Better question though, where did she get the frying pan from?

 **"Where are guys heading?" Ino** **asked as she observed her two teammates heading back to the village. The trio had decided to head out to the forests where their kids would meet them so they could train the next Shika-Ino-Cho** **generation.**

 **"Back to the village, Choji** **probably has to head home before Karui** **gets mad and I need to get back to work before Naruto** **burns down the village. And I** **need a new pack of cigarettes anyway," Shikamaru** **answered as he continued to walk away.**

 **"What about training? Our kids are gonna be here any minute,"**

 **"No they're not. If they were, they would be here already. Knowing Shikadai, he probably chose to head home, the sneaky bastard. Now that I think about it, Temari** **did say her brothers were visiting today. Cho-Cho** **more than likely is eating dangos** **with Anko** **and Inojin** **wouldn't come near you without the other two so he's probably hiding somewhere,"**

"Ha, even you're own son is afraid to go near you, Ino-pig!"

"Shut it Forehead-girl!"

 **Ino** **took a moment to process Shikamaru's** **words before reluctantly nodding in agreement. That did sound like something their kids would do. Muttering, she followed after her two teammates leaving the small clearing.**

 **A few moments after they left, two figures made themselves known in the same small clearing.**

"Woah, who the hell are those guys," Kiba remarked aloud.

"By the looks of their headbands, they are Konoha-nins," the Third answered _'But that man, I have no idea who he is, and I know all my shinobi'_

 **One was a tall man and the other was a boy (who admittedly looks a lot like a girl). The man had short jet black hair while the boy had blond hair kept in a ponytail. But that was where the differences ended. Both males had translucent pale skin and identical gears. Dark grey and black jackets that exposed the midriff and black shinobi** **trousers with red backpacks. The most noticeable feature of the males were their smiles however. Smiles that seemed fake yet you could tell that they were real and heartfelt. The two figures dropped from a branch where the younger of the two spoke first.**

 **"Thanks dad, I'm not sure what I would have done without you," the boy spoke with relief. In his eyes were the tell-tale** **signs of true fear, something the boy had come to know that only his mother could instill in him.**

 **"No worries, I know first hand what your mother is like when angry," the man stated, his smile slightly growing as he ruffled his son's hair. "I'll tell Ino** **that I saw you over at Sarada's** **house, that should but you a couple hours while she talks to Ugly,"**

 **"Thanks again dad," the boy said as he ran off to who knows where.**

With that, the screen slowly faded and transformed back to a series of scribbles.

"Was that... my husband?" Ino asked slowly as she put the pieces together.

"So it seems. And I was right to say that your son was hiding somewhere," Shikamaru answered and Choji snickered at the next generation Yamanaka. But who could blame him, he would rather hide than confront Ino when she wasn't in the right mood. Breaking the three from their conversations, the loud voice of Naruto broke all the others from their speculations of the future.

"What's wrong Sakura-chan?" the boy asked concerned.

"Did... DID THAT PALE-FACED BASTARD JUST CALL ME UGLY?!" she roared when indignation. There was no way she would take that lying down, no siree! And inner Sakura was in complete agreement.

Blinking, Ino found herself laughing out loud when she realized that her husband had indeed called Sakura ugly. Blinking away the tears that formed throughout her laughter, Ino managed to say something in between laughs, 'It's no wonder why I married him, the guy is a genius. And he isn't too bad on the eyes either," She stated, the topic of Sasuke at the back of mind.

Growling, Sakura decided to leave the man's punishment for later and asked who would like to go next.

 _To be continued..._


	5. Chapter 5 - Hinata

Now for the obligatory (yet completely redundant) disclaimer telling you all that I do not own Naruto or any of its subsequent series. If I did, would I really be writing fan-fictions right now. No. I would be relaxing with dozens of hot super models. Ah, that's the dream.

XxXxXxXxXx

Sakura refused to look at Ino as the blond kunoichi laughed out loud at the nickname her future husband had gifted her. The pinkette had decided to look at the silver lining of it all, the fact that she had Sasuke-kun all to herself now. That thought alone seemed to delay the ticking time bomb that was Sakura's temper.

Keyword of that statement being delay, not defuse. She would get her revenge on that pale-faced shinobi. Of course we will! Shannaro! Inner Sakura roared to life.

"A-A-Ano, I w-w-would like to g-go next," a meek voice spoke up, volunteering herself next. Sakura spun on her heels to meet Hinata's gaze, although the timid girl ducked under the sudden attention.

"Are you sure Hinata?" Kurenai asked her student and pseudo-ward. Honestly, she hadn't thought the girl would have spoken up to see her future, having already assumed that Hinata would have faded into the background until she was the only one left. Although, when she saw the girl cast a glance to the apparent Hokage-to-be, a coy grin slipped unto her face.

Something Hiashi also noticed but decided to hold his tongue.

For now, at least.

"H-Hai, Kurenai-sensei," the slight introvert responded before leaving her seat wedged between her two male partners. Standing atop the sealing matrix, the girl twiddled her thumbs before with a single hand seal, she concentrated and channeled her chakra to her feet. This is it, she thought, Sakura married Sasuke so that means that Naruto-kun must have given up on her. Her heart thumped and raced at the implications. Maybe, just maybe, I end up with Naruto-kun.

 **"KAA-SAN!" A loud voice sounded with a giggle. It was another sunny day in Konoha. Our scene takes us to a moderately house located near the marketplace of Konoha, but far away that the loud bustling noise didn't disturb the occupants. The house was cylindrical in shape, with separately wings occupying the cozy compound. With orange-tiled roof and a cream coat of paint, the house was simplistic and homely.**

Hinata froze in fear. She had learnt back in the Academy that the Hokages were required to live in the Hokage Mansion built near the Hokage Tower. And from what she knew, that building was not the Hokage Tower. 'Which means that I didn't marry Naruto-kun,' she concluded dejectedly.

What Hinata failed to remember however, was the fact that while the Hokage was required to live in the Hokage mansion, not all of the Hokages did that. In fact, the Fourth Hokage was the first to have not lived in the Hokage Mansion. Coincidentally enough, his son was the second Hokage to have bypassed this rule.

 **Inside the home, a sigh could be heard as the lady of the house got up from the table and rolled up the scarf she was knitting. Dark blue hair fell to her back in a hime-cut with two bangs framing her face, reaching just past her shoulders. Lavender eyes twinkled in bemusement. With soft delicate features and a graceful physique, the woman seemed like a beautiful porcelain doll, fragile to touch yet mesmerizing to look at. She wore a white blouse with a lavender apron thrown over it. With dark blue pants stopping at her shin, the matriarch finished her look with blue heeled sandals. This was Hinata Uzumaki, formerly of the Hyuga clan.**

Kiba couldn't help but whistle in appreciation at his teammate. The years had really treated her well, better than most kunoichi. He had thought that perhaps Ino would have been the one to take the spot as the hottest kunoichi of their group but he was wrong. Where Ino was smoking hot and seductive, Hinata possessed a charm more on the purer side of the spectrum and he would congratulate the lucky bastard who ended up with her as a wife.

Glancing over at his teammate, Kiba noticed that Shino had both eyebrows raised, something he came to understand was the way the quiet bug-user expressed shock. "Eh! Is something wrong Shino?" Kiba asked.

"Yes, there is something that is bothering me. It would appear to me that Hinata has chosen to retire from the shinobi corps. Why you ask? Her attire indicates that she has chosen a more domesticated lifestyle. While it could be argued that she is perhaps taking a short break from work, the fact that she is not wearing a headband coupled with fact that she is not armed leads me to believe that this is a more permanent fixture than a break. And with the added detail that she is apparently a mother leads me to conclude that she as chosen to become a housewife." Shino explained, his logical conclusion hitting the nail right on the head. Shikamaru, alongside his father, nodded their head in agreement with the Aburame's conclusion, having reached the same.

Beside them, Hiashi frowned, something Hinata caught sight of and flinched.

 **"I'm in here," she called out to the however it was that had called her. Waiting a few seconds, she was not disappointed when the door was pushed open and she was tackled by a blur of blue and gold. Using grace and skill that betrayed her looks, she caught the small figure by their waist and spun the child in the air, eliciting a fit of giggles. As they came to a stop, the child's features were finally brought into view.**

For Hinata, the room vanished and the floor underneath dissolved into nothing. She was numb to the world as she focused on her daughter's features. Dark blue hair just like her own with hairstyle vaguely similar to one she sported now. The small girl, maybe 5 or 6 years old, wore the cutest of gold blouses and with a pair of puffy pink shorts. Her facial features was reminiscent of Hinata's when she was that age and her striking blue eyes were as clear as the sky. But the real stand-out features of the toddler were the whisker-like birthmarks on either side of her cheeks. Just like... just like...Needless to say, Hinata fainted soon after.

Kurenai smiled faintly. She may not have the highest opinion of the boy now, not due to the Kyuubi but more so about his rowdy behavior, but it was obvious that he had grow into a splendid man if he was given the the title of Hokage. Plus, it was also obvious that the boy would make her charge happy if that dreamy smile on Hinata's face was any indication.

Kurenai paused when Hinata giggled lightly and her face colored as red as a tomato in her state of unconsciousness. Just what the hell was Hinata imagining?

You don't wanna know but to give you a hint, it included whips, chains and ramen.

The author shakes his head, it's always the quiet ones that get you.

"Whoa... didn't see that coming," TenTen commented. While she knew the Hyuga heiress due to association with Neji, she also knew that the young girl pined for the blond's affection. This also led her to know that Naruto was denser than osmium (and that's pretty damn dense)

"Congratulations Naruto-kun," Hiruzen smiled, happy to know that Naruto finally got the family he had always dreamed of.

"Eh, what for?" Naruto asked, absently scratching his whiskers, oblivious to the fact that the little girl on the screen possessed the same features. TenTen changed her mind. This boy wasn't dense, he was just plain stupid.

"Maa Maa, never change Naruto. Never change," Kakashi chuckled.

 **"Again Kaa-san! Again Kaa-san!" the girl giggled. Her infectious smile brought one to her mother's face. The little bundle of joy bounced happily along in her arms, before she was set down on the floor once again. "Sorry sweetie, but mommy has to go get ready," Hinata apologized to her daughter, causing the girl to pout.**

Hiashi found it hard to breath, seeing someone who looked so much like his late wife brought back painful memories of the times when Hitomi would play with Hinata just like that. The stoic man swallowed deeply and pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind.

 **"Come now Himawari, you know we have to get going," Hinata urged the small child. She left the room, with the now identified Himawari following astutely behind her. Hinata left what seemed to be her private room before traversing a corridor and ending up inside the kitchen. Behind her, Himawari bounced happily, her head bobbing with every step.**

 **"Kaa-san, are we going to visit Neji-ojisan again?" Himawari asked as her mother picked up a orange bento wrapped in a orange cloth. Go figure. Hinata turned towards her daughter again, taking Himariwari's left hand with her right before heading towards the door. At the left of the door was a hat rack, where two hats hung. Hinata took the smaller of the two and placed it on Himawari's head and the large rimmed headgear tilted slightly forward, shadowing her eyes. The youngest of the newly revived Uzumaki clan fumbled with the hat, before pouting in defeat when her mother started to giggle at her predicament. She stuck her tongue out and mumbled something about her kaa-san being a big meanie.**

 **"Kuku, don't be like that, come on. We're going to visit Neji-niisama today but we have to drop off your tou-san's lunch since he left without it this morning," she answered.**

Neji frowned. Why would the young Hyuga want to visit him, and to call him ojisan? Why would she do that? Fate had decided that he was to be a slave to the Main Branch, so why was it that the girl would talk about him in such a familiar manner.

"It would appear that the child is just as foolish as her mother," he huffed, his anger being the only way he knew how to deal with his confusion. Hinata, who had awoken some time after her fainting spell, shrunk at her cousin's sharp tone. She still held hope that Neji would forget his anger for the Main Branch in the favor of being a family like she had always wanted, but it seemed that was only a fool's dream. She relented under his words.

Naruto, however, would not. For some reason, the child on the screen brought some sense of familiarity to him, and his heart soared whenever he saw her smile. He couldn't explain it, but for some reason, he wanted to keep that smile on her face forever. And he wouldn't let some pale-eyed dude talk down to the girl that way. Jumping from his seat, he rushed over to Neji before he could blink and hoisted him up by the collar of his shirt.

"Oi, who do you think you are talking about a little girl like that!" Naruto snarled. His eyes narrowed in a fierce glare and his teeth grinded so hard the others in the room swore they would crack. A low growl rumbled from his throat as he dared the Hyuga to say another word.

Neji, for his part, seemed unfazed by the angry rookie. Trying - and ultimately failing - to loosen the boy's grip on him, he settled for his patented Hyuga glare.

Look it up, it's a real thing.

"Unhand me," Neji growled in retaliation. His eyes bulging slightly as he prepared to use his coveted bloodline limit.

"Hell no! Not until you've apolo-" Whatever it was he was about to say was cut off by the stern voice of the Third Hokage. Rising from his seat, the aged kage demanded both boys to break off their confrontation, which Naruto grumbled about yet still complied.

" **We're gonna go see Tou-san?" At Hinata's nod, the youngest Uzumaki seemingly sprung to life as she latched onto her mother's hand and charged out, chanting 'Tou-san! Tou-san' over and over again.**

"Awwww, she's just so cute!" Ino and Sakura squealed while Hinata blushed at her future daughter.

 **The mother and daughter duo walked through the streets of Konoha, each with a small smile on their face. As they reached the market place, heading to the direction of the Hokage's Tower, several civilians and ninjas alike stopped and greeted them with a small bow.**

 **"Good morning Lady Hinata," a random vendor greeted the pair.**

 **"It's nice to see you, Hinata-sama," a merchant said happily, content with waving at the elegant woman.**

 **"Please, have a cup of tea Lady Hinata, I insist," a female shopkeeper pressed, before being declined with a polite smile and a 'Maybe later' to sate her whims.**

"Man, I gotta say, I'm sorta jealous," Ino commented playfully. At Shikamaru's raised eyebrow, the Yamanaka decided to explain further, "Oh come, all the girls in here have at least dreamed once of having all the others fawning over us," she finished with a smile. Shikamaru, deciding to take her words at face value, thought to look at all the other females to see their reactions, needless to say, he found them all too troublesome for his liking.

Sakura didn't even tried to hide her fantasies, giving Shikamaru a firm nod and a sly wink at an increasingly paling Uchiha.

Hinata was more reserved, blushing up a storm before giving a small nod.

Even, Kurenai-sensei shrugged nonchalantly, before sheepishly nodding along.

Hiashi, however, had different thoughts on the matter. The man was currently caught between two minds. On one hand, he was happy that his daughter had found her place in the world. He had always feared that she was fated to be sealed and placed in the Branch family. In a totally non-Hyuga like manner, he chose to defy fate. He pushed her to her limits and beyond in an attempt to bring her to a level acceptable of her status. He had hoped she would rise to the occasion and prove her worth yet the girl had become introverted and shy. Believing that a stoic and detached manner of discipline could fix the problem, Hiashi had undoubtedly made the manner worse. On the other hand, it would seem that Hinata had inevitable failed as clan heiress and relinquished her role to another, something he felt uncomfortable about. He was raised on the traditional Hyuga ways, where it was the eldest child that would succeed the Clan Head, and he had hoped his eldest daughter would fulfill this role.

But he would relent on admonishing the girl. She was happy with how things turned out and - regardless of popular opinion - Hiashi truly cared about his daughters. He just was an traditional man who expected nothing but the best of his daughters.

 **"And how is my favorite and cutest little customer doing?" a male voice spoke as the mother-daughter duo walked pass his place of business. A wrinkled face that seemed to have not aged in decades smiled warmly as Himawari ran and leaped into his arms. His small white hat fell off as he spun her twice and chuckled deeply at her gleeful expression.**

 **"Teuchi-jiji!" Himawari greeted, pleased to see her favorite ramen chef. "We're on our way to see Tou-san then we're gonna go see Neji-ojisan," the girl explained her plans to the benefit of the man. He placed her down on the ground, banishing the thoughts to pick her up again as she pouted cutely. Hearing a laugh, he turned to see the amused face of Hinata as she chased after her daughter.**

 **"Well, aren't you a busy bee today," he replied to Himawari before turning to Hinata, "It's good to see you again Hinata," the man spoke, his eyes closed in greeting.**

Come to think of it, has he even opened his eyes before?

... oh well, thoughts for another time.

 **"Nice to see you too, Teuchi-san. Though we can't stay long, we have to drop this off to my husband," she lifted the bento to his attention, "Then I promised to take her to Neji-niisama, before retiring for the day,"**

 **"I see." He said, "Well don't make me keep you up, we both know what he's like when he's hungry," Both adults laughed at their little joke while Himawari stood back at her mother's side, clutching the hem of her blouse. He turned to the child, kneel slightly and planted a small kiss on her cheek. "Be a good girl now, and come back at lunchtime with your brother and I'll have to Uzumaki Specials ready for you both." He laughed as the girl went starry-eyed at the thoughts of her favorite meal.**

 **"Hai, dattebasa!" she shouted, '~Hmm, Ramen~.'**

"Well that proves that she's his daughter," Sasuke commented, before turning to his teammate to ask how he felt about his daughter, only to sweat-drop when he saw that Naruto too had gone starry-eyed at the mention of his favorite meal. "Ramen addicts, all of them," he deadpanned.

 **Himawari had only came back from her ramen-bliss state when they had just reached the hallway that led to the Hokage office, the door playing the role of a oak barrier between her and her destination.**

Naruto, who had also just come from his own bliss mode, recognized the familiar hallway and was curious as to why the two were standing in front of the door - his door, he had to remind himself. "What are they doing there, weren't they going to Hinata's husband?" Naruto aloud, hoping that someone would explain it to him.

"And that's exactly what they're doing, dobe," Sasuke answered, "It's obvious that the girl is your daughter so that makes Hinata your wife,"

"NO WAY!" Naruto responded, "How do you even know that she's my daughter?"

"It's obvious. She has the same whisker birth-marks that you have plus she says dattebasa, just like your son... " Sasuke stopped seeing that Naruto had frozen, his mouth hanging open and a gazed look in his eyes.

"M-M-My d-daughter," the Uzumaki stuttered in a uncharacteristic manner, "But that's impossible, Hinata doesn't even like me," Naruto tried to his case, oblivious to the simultaneous face-palms of all the room's occupants.

'What an idiot,'

T **he door suddenly flew open and out came a familiar feral face. Twin red fangs on each cheek, shaggy brown hair slicked back with a goatee, Himawari was pinioned to the spot as the man walked towards her. A grey furred jacket ruffled with each step tried to hide the flak vest that marked the man as a jounin. His grey shinobi pants led to a pair of black sandals as he bent to eye level with a small grin, exposing his sharper than normal canine. Her curiosity was broken from the man as a loud woof made her cast her gaze onto a large - and I mean LARGE - dog that trailed behind the man.**

"Hey look boy, it's us," Kiba commented, getting a bark from the small pup that rested on his shoulders.

"HAHA, well it looks like Akamaru grows up to be a great partner," the loud voice of the Inuzuka clan head spoke. The kunoichi had a large smirk on her face, quite content that the small pup she knew since his birth had grown into a fine partner.

"That dog... He can't be Akamaru. I mean... look at him... HE'S HUGE!" Naruto oh-so-eloquently summed up what most of the rookies were thinking at the sight of Kiba and his dog.

 **"Hey there Hinata," Kiba greeted, while ruffling the small girl's hair, earning himself a pout. "You should be able to see him now, it's just him and Shikamaru in there," he explained, pulling his ex-teammate in a one-armed hug before heading down the hall.**

 **"Good luck on your mission Kiba-kun. And tell Shino that I said hi," she called out to her departing friend, before leading her daughter into the room where they were in for an interesting sight. Apparently, Naruto didn't want to do the paperwork on his desk so he had tried to skip out on his duties. Needless to say, his assistant was not pleased. The Nara was resorted to using his clan's shadow possessing jutsu to try and force the Hokage to finish his work. Needless to say, it had dissolved in a comical game of tag. Currently, there were five copies of the blond bouncing from wall to wall trying to evade the tendrils of shadows released by the slowly irritated Nara.**

'The Professor' could barely keep back the laughter threatening to bubble to the surface. He was glad to hear that the boy he had come to think of as his grandson had been able to achieve his dream but he was also glad to know that the boy had still been able to maintain his child-like quirks up to that point. The rookies however, had no restraint on their laughter, only roaring louder when they saw Shikamaru got smacked with a scroll thrown by one of the clones, before said clone was dispelled when Shikamaru threw the scroll back at him.

 **"Damnit Naruto, stop playing around and do your paperwork. You're the Hokage for crying out loud!"**

 **"No way! It's boring as hell. And as the Hokage, I'm ordering you to do the paperwork, you are my assistant after all. Yeah, that's a great idea, dattebayo!" Naruto argued, sticking out his tongue to prove his point.**

 **"Hell no! That's a death sentence if I ever saw one!" Shikamaru shouted back, growing a large tic mark as he had to dodge the various objects being thrown at him by the clones. He ducked when a brown blur was hurled at him. 'The hell! Was that the Fire Daimayo's wife's cat Tora!' he thought as the bane to the all freshly minted genin was sent sailing the air at great speed.**

 **"Then why should I do it if it's a death sentence, huh? I didn't sign up for this!" Naruto responded, looking for something to throw. 'What can I use... Aha, this is good enough!'**

 **"Yes you did!" Shikamaru shouted back, leaping to side as a ramen bowl was thrown at him.**

At this point, even the jounins were laughing at the scene in front of them. It was hard not to. However one person was not amused, evident by the large tic mark on his brow. "Damnit, troublesome blonds are gonna be the death of me, I just know,"

Oh the irony. If poor Shikamaru had known that with those words he had doomed himself, he probably would have quit the shinobi program at that point.

 **Soft giggling broke both men from their game, turning to face the intruders. Naruto's face lit up like a Christmas tree, blurring out of view before reappearing right in front of Hinata, sweeping her off her feet, eliciting a small 'eep'.**

"Oh, this should be good," Ino squealed.

 **"Hina-chan! Have you come to save from the horrors of paperwork!" he pleaded with starry eyes as he set his wife back on her feet. Seeing her shake her head, he slumped over and pouted, though only for a moment before being tackled by a small missile which he caught easily.**

 **"Tou-san! Tou-san!" Himawari chanted happily, burying herself in her father's embrace. She hardly got to see anymore ever since he had taken the mantle of Hokage and resolved to savour every moment she got to spend with him.**

 **"Hey Hima-hime, I hope you've been behaving yourself now,"**

 **"Of course, Tou-san," the girl answered energetically.**

 **"That's my girl!" Naruto grinned, similarly to his daughter.**

"Wow, I guess Naruto makes a good dad," Sakura commented, not believing that the knucklehead that often asked her out would make such great father material.

"O-O-Of course," Hinata defended, only to hide beneath her collar as she became the center for most of the other's attention.

 **"Sorry Naruto-kun, but we've got to go now if we want to visit Neji-niisama," Hinata explained as she handed off the orange bento to her husband, laughing at his pouting visage. "Come Himawari, your tou-san as a lot of work to do," Hinata instructed as she took Himawari from her husband, but just before she could leave, he pulled her into a heated kiss. Her knees suddenly felt weak, proving that she was just as in love with her husband since the first time she had taken to admiring (ahem*stalking*ahem) him when they kids. Pulling back, Naruto grinned. "I'll see you tonight," he winked, with Hinata nodded weakly as she led her daughter outside.**

"Damn, that was hot," Kiba exclaimed, grinning as he saw the present Hinata blushing up a storm. She got so red that Kiba was sure she had discovered a new shade of red not known to man. Ino nodded to the brash Inuzuka's comment, agreeing that kiss was indeed, hot.

 **Naruto watched his wife and daughter leave his office, smiling as thought about what he planned for tonight. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice the shadow creeping towards him until it was too late. His body stiffened and groaned when he heard the Nara verify that the shadow possessing jutsu was a success.**

 **"Now, Hokage-sama, I think you have work to do," the Nara spoke menacingly from behind him, enjoying the small shivers off Naruto's form. Forced to walk towards the desk against his will, Naruto paled when he saw that the paperwork had somehow managed to double.**

 **"Damn you Kakashi-sensei. No wonder you were smiling when I agreed to take the hat from you. You planned for this to happen you bastard,"**

 **Somewhere else in the village far away from the Hokage's Tower, a silver haired man lifted his head from a orange book (how long does it take to read one book!?) and suddenly smiled. "For some reason, I have the urge to jump atop the nearest table and laughed maniacally as one of my evil schemes as come to fruition," the man said to himself.**

 **"YOSH KAKASHI! EVEN AT OUR AGE, YOU'VE CONTINUED TO NURTURE YOUR FLAMES. YES MY ETERNAL RIVAL, YOU'VE ONCE AGAIN BEATEN ME IN OUR YOUTHFUL CHALLENGES BUT YOU NEED NOT WORRY, IF I AM UNABLE TO BEAT YOU THE NEXT TIME THEN I WILL WHEEL MYSELF AROUND KONOHA 1000 TIMES!" An exuberant voice exclaimed.**

"Oh my poor future-self," Kakashi hung his head in a manner akin to when one mourns the death of a comrade, and considering who he was apparently hanging out with, it was a close second.

 **"Hmm... You said something, Gai?"**

 **"ACK! CURSE YOUR HIP AND COOL ATTITUDE KAKASHI!"**

Those were the last words as the screen sputtered out of life.

"Well... um... that was... interesting," Sasuke tried to explain as he witnessed the strange man his sensei apparently hung out with. What kind of bet did you lose to willingly seek companionship with that man? Sasuke shook his head as he walked over to the sealing matrix, he didn't want to know what had driven those two together.

To be continued...

* * *

 **There you have it, another update. This chapter was more focused on the family and cherishing those close to you, something I think fit Hinata's personality pretty well. And as you see, Sasuke's future is coming up next and a little hint, it's gonna be wild.**


	6. Chapter 6 - Sasuke

**Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls... I have returned.**

 **It's been awhile since my last update due to the fact that I updated my other Naruto crossover story and uploaded a new story just a few days ago but with that out of the way, my focus is now back onto this story.**

 **My last update hinted that the next future to be shown would be Sasuke's future and yes, this update is about Sasuke. due to most readers asking for action scenes and such to be in the fanfic, this scene will be a fight with Naruto and Sasuke.**

 **But... *hint hint* this is not the fight at the Valley of the End.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto because if I did, I would relaxing somewhere in Europe and not sitting at home typing a fanfiction.**

 **XxXxXxXxXxXx**

Sasuke reached towards the matrix with a thousand questions whirling around in his head. What would the matrix show him? Would it be his death? Would he die at the hands of Itachi? If so, then how did he have a daughter with Sakura? Had Itachi allowed him to live that long only to rip him from his family and do to his daughter the same thing he had done to Sasuke? With that thought, a rare moment of protective rage filled Sasuke's being. Sarada might not be born yet, but the fact of the matter was that the girl was an Uchiha. HE wouldn't be alone anymore and though he never admit it out loud, based on what he had saw in Sakura's projection, the rosette on his team had made a great mother.

His feelings still jumbled, Sasuke channelled chakra to his feet, causing the sealing matrix to come to life with bright blue lights. Soon, the illegible scribbling of the matrix twisted and morphed into a screen and it burst to life revealing a much older Sasuke glaring angrily at something in the sky.

"Hmmmm... dark hair, check. Dark clothing, check. A permanent scowl on his face, check. Yep, that's definitely Sasuke-teme," Naruto commented a loud, miming a check list in his hand.

Sasuke glared back while the others snickered.

 **Sasuke Uchiha walked forward, a black cloak engulfing his frame. Slowly, he reached his right hand towards the collar of his cloak and with a slight flick of his wrist, the cloak was sent fluttering out in the breeze revealing a white vest thrown over a grey long-sleeved shirt. Grasped in his hand, was a sword. "Hn, guess we're doing this again," Sasuke said as another figure made its way beside him. It was a tall man, with short blonde hair spiked out. Three whisker marks on each cheek was his most unique feature as his orange and black jacket was left open to reveal a black undershirt.**

"Hey look, it's me again... wait a minute... is this a fight?!" Naruto asked excitedly, large stars apparently bursting to life with in his eyes.

"Looks like we get to see the Seventh Hokage in action," Kakashi commented, and for once placing his orange book back into his pouch. He slipped his hand beneath the hem of his makeshift eye-patch/headband and revealed the feared dojutsu. This action caught the attention of the son of the Hokage.

"Oi Kakashi, don't you think that's a bit excessive?" Asuma asked, pausing as he began to lift a cigarette to his lips, ignoring the disapproving glare from the Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha.

"Not at all," Kakashi stated his eyes never leaving the screen. "We're about to witness a fight of at least two Kage-level shinobi and if there is someone out there that requires both the Hokage AND one of his shinobi to fight, it's quite east to conclude that we're dealing with no ordinary enemy."

 **"You can say that again," Naruto commented as he closed the distance and stood shoulder to shoulder to Sasuke. "So... same thing as last time, Sasuke?" Naruto asked before he was engulfed in flames. His jacket became enshrouded by golden fire while his under shirt was pitch black with glowing magatama surrounding his neck. Black lines ran the length of his pants' seam and his eyes became burnt orange with a black cross settling where his pupil was.**

"Sugoi!" Naruto exclaimed as he witnessed his older-self's transformation. "That's so cool!"

Meanwhile, the Third Hokage's lips were set into a thin line. He too was surprised by the sudden transformation but as a three time war veteran, he had seen much stranger things on the battlefield and was able to keep his surprise hidden. Now however, he had different thoughts. _'So, this is what the Kyuubi's chakra looks like under control,'_ he thought, before he nodded slightly. It seems Minato had made the right choice in entrusting his son with the strongest bijuu.

 **Levitating a few feet above them, their opponent glared heatedly as the two shinobi walked forward without a hint of fear. He scowled, his blood red lips curling in distaste. He wore a set of rather intricate gown, hinting that despite his grotesque appearance, he was indeed nobility. With skin as red as blood and stark white hair pulled back into a spiky ponytail. His irises were white, encompassed within black sclera. He was Momoshiki Otsutsuki, and right now, he was the bane of Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki.**

Sakura shrieked in fear as the man came into view. Many had reactions similar to hers, either flinching or visibly grimacing as the man checked off all the features normally attributed to a demon.

 **Having enough of the two, Momoshiki shot into action. With speeds that few could follow, he rushed at the two shinobi. Sasuke grinned, before he and Naruto ran to meet the towering man half-way. All three figures became nothing more than blurs and with a resounding boom that sent shock-waves for miles and rooted up the ground, they all met at a single point. The smoke cleared and revealed that Momoshiki had landed on the ground, and had blocked Naruto's flaming fist in his left hand and Sasuke's own in his right. Momoshiki growled as they were caught in a stalemate, neither able to get any advantage.**

"No way," Kiba whispered in awe. His eyes were a s wide as the moon and his jaw seemed unhinged. The feral boy was of course shocked by the show of strength that his two teammates had just shown. But how could he not be?! This was insane. All they did was ran at each other and interlocked fists and yet had uprooted the area by their actions. It was surreal.

"I guess you were right Kakashi. You are gonna need a sharingan to keep up with this fight," he cut his eyes back to the younger counterparts of the two Leaf-nin on the screen and seriously couldn't believe that it was these two boys who would have grown to reach that level. _'The Will of Fire, huh.'_ he thought distractedly, _'I always thought the old man was just spouting his usual lectures when he spoke about that but... if there was ever a generation that inherited the Will of Fire, it would be this one,'_

 **It remained that way until Sasuke suddenly lurched forward, slipping from Momoshiki's grasp and landing a heavy kick against the man's chest. The crimson man flew backwards from the attack, while the duo pressed onward, giving him no chance to recover. They sped towards his sprawled form at incredible speed, with Sasuke slowly edging out Naruto in their race to the opponent.** **The Uchiha vanished from view, before reappearing in front of Momoshiki and slammed into his gut shoulder first. The Otsutsuki was pushed further back and let out a small groan from the body slam. Luckily for him, he was able to recover in time to block an upcoming attack from the hokage, before countering with a vicious punch, blasting Naruto off to the side. Naruto rolled with the punch, quickly recovering in time to brace for the charging form of Momoshiki. He fell into the fighting stance taught to him by the toads of Mt. Myoboku but that proved unnecessary as Momoshiki was once again body slammed by the Uchiha. Sasuke's advantage only lasted for a moment for as soon as Momoshiki found his footing, he overpowered Sasuke in a quick bout of taijutsu, smacking him to the side as Naruto quickly took his place.**

"Hell yeah, get him dattebayo!" Naruto shouted from his seat, entertained by the speedy fight. Honestly, he could only see several blurs converging at each other in rapid succession but knew well enough that the golden figure shooting across the scene was him. And man was he strong inn the future!

"Unreal!" Choji spoke up, for the first time truly intrigued by what he saw. He had been in his fair share of spars back at the Academy but this fight was near god-level if he said so himself. Beside him, his best friend Shikamaru was caught between being fascinated and troubled by what he saw. If Naruto and Sasuke were this strong, what kind of monster were they facing that it took both of them to take him on?

 **Naruto attacked with ferocity. He ducked under Momoshiki's swipe and latched on to the man's arm, grappling it with no intentions of letting go. Momoshiki growled in annoyance as this _'lower being'_ held on to him like a sloth to a tree limb. So caught up with Naruto, he was unprepared with Sasuke rushed forward, dropped to the floor and swept his feet out from beneath him. He tumbled like a great tree and fell backwards. Naruto relinquished his hold on the giant of a man and leaped backwards, leaving Sasuke enough room to straddle the flailing man and unsheathed his blade. The glistening of silver was the only indication Momoshiki got before Sasuke brought the blade downwards. Momoshiki recovered and planted a foot in the dark-haired man's chest, pushing him off him and the sword flew into the air. Momoshiki sighed in relief for a moment before Naruto appeared above him, catching the loose sword and bringing it down in a deadly arc.**

"They have wonderful cohesiveness," Kurenai complimented, satisfied with the teamwork both boys - no, men - displayed in the fight.

 **A glowing red sword blocked his strike, pushing him back as Momoshiki rolled out from beneath him and stood up. The Otsutsuki leaped backwards to gain room as more glowing weapons burst from his back and sailed towards the charging hokage in a hail of death. Naruto weaved and dodged through the barrage before he closed the gap once again, and engaged Momoshiki in a bout of kenjutsu. Both men clashed blades once, twice then thrice before Naruto backed off. Momoshiki was momentarily by the retreated, before Sasuke slipped in between the gap left by Naruto and knocked the red sword from him and kicked him in the stomach, his body betrayed his wishes and propelled back before his neck snapped upwards when Sasuke kicked him under the chin in a _vicious_ mule kick.**

Gai suddenly jumped from his seat. "IMPOSSIBLE!" he shouted in 'Gai-like' fashion. He pointed an accusatory finger in the screen's direction before bellowing. "That move the youthful future Sasuke performed was none other than the same technique one does when preparing to execute the Lotus!" the exuberant man explained to those who didn't understand what he was talking about.

Shyly, Sakura raised a hand as though still in the Academy, "Umm, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yes, Sakura?"

"What's this 'Lotus' thing that the weird man is talking about?"

Kakashi smiled beneath his face mask. One, because he was glad that his student was attentive enough to notice things and ask questions and two, she had said the magic words by calling Gai the weird man. He had dreaded the thought of any of his students becoming ensnared in the green-spandex wearing cult Gai obviously was trying to start. He shuddered.

Poor Lee.

 **Momoshiki was launched into the air with the speed of a bullet. Mid-flight, he was able to crane his head to watch where his opponent was and was shocked to see that Sasuke, for once was not pressing. He was made known when a gold enshrouded fist smashed into his face. His cheek caved in under the pressure and he was hit with enough force to blast through a large pillar of earth and shattered the rock into pieces. Pain racked through his systems as the heel of the Uchiha was planted into his face, sending him flying back through the pillar and crashing into another land form. A large crater was formed as he slumped off the rock but before he could gain his bearings, Sasuke attacked again, this time an axe-kick to the gut sending him careening to the floor in a loud BOOM.**

"SO COOL! Way to go Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cheered, wrapping her arms around the neck of the secretly pleased Uchiha. Sasuke himself was left mesmerized by his own prowess and internally, had no doubts that he had been able to defeat Itachi if this was any sort of indication of how far he would progress.

Beside her however, Naruto pouted at the lack of praise on his part. He slumped into his seat before he felt a soft hand on his shoulders. He turned to face Hinata, seeing the girl twiddling with her thumbs and a heavy blush on her cheeks. "I-I think you're pretty cool too, Naruto-kun," she stated, and was not prepared for the boy to sweep her up in his arms.

"You really think so Hina-chan?" he asked, not at all aware of the affectionate title he had given her. The girl however was, and in true Hinata fashion, passed out. "Eh?Eh? Hinata-chan?!" Naruto asked in a panic, hoping that he had not done something to hurt her. Kurenai only chuckled, telling the boy that it was fine and Hinata would wake up soon enough. Naruto agreed, but couldn't help but sneak a few glances in her direction every now and then.

 **Momoshiki groaned from his position on the ground and watched as both Naruto and Sasuke converged on his from. He acted quickly, and with a quick flick of the wrists, red chains shot from his hand and wrapped around Sasuke's torso and rolled out of the way as Naruto attack went wide. Smoke erupted on the scene and Sasuke was seen sent rolling in one direction. When the smoke cleared, Naruto was seen buried by rubble. The hokage looked up, only to see Momoshiki making hand seals before he clasped his hands together and the the rubble converged and crushed his from.**

"NARUTO-KUN!" Hinata shouted.

 **Sasuke, angered by Momoshiki's actions, charged with anger clouding his thoughts. So caught up by his emotions, he didn't see that the ground had been turned into mud and had hardened around his ankles until he was already trapped by the jutsu. He grimaced before plunging his sword into the mud and channeled his lightning chakra through the mixture, and was rewarded with his escape. And just in time to dodge the swipe of Momoshiki wielding a red hammer. Sasuke was forced into the air to avoid the strike and played right into Momoshiki's hand as multiple rocks converged on his form and turned to hot magma, burning the Uchiha. Sasuke screamed in pain before he was caught in a big explosion caused by Momoshiki.**

"SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura was the one that shouted out in concern now.

 **Momoshiki smirked as he believed he had finally rid himself of his two biggest threats but was proved wrong when a loud roar echoed through the air. Momoshiki's hair raised on the back of his neck when with the blast of golden energy, a massive beast appeared on the scene. Golden ethereal energy formed the shape of a large fox. Nine tails waved hypnotically behind him, a sneer on the beast's face as it glared at the man.**

 **In the center of the beast stood the enraged Seventh Hokage.**

"K-K-K-Kyuubi!" Mebuki screamed, her skin paling to sheet white tones. The woman's entire body shivered and it was her husband's gentle touch that reminded her that they were only watching the future. Catching her breaths, her eyes quickly went to the pale form of the young jinchuriki, quickly noting that he too was shaking from the emergence of the Kyuubi.

"The Kyuubi? But how... why... didn't the Fourth kill it?" Sakura sputtered, trying to find out what the beast of most of her scary stories was doing in this fight. Had it somehow returned to finish the job? But that was when she saw that within the fox, was a person. And that person was none other than her own teammate, Naruto. She turned to him, noting that he was afraid. Had he known about the Kyuubi? If so, then how was he connected to it? "Naruto.. are you..."

Naruto flinched as he predicted Sakura's question. He should have known it was too good to be true. That his secrets would have come out despite him wishing he could have taken it to his grave. He tried to explain to her what was going on but words failed him. Fortunately, the Third came to his rescue, telling them all that the existence of the Kyuubi would be explained after the viewing was complete.

 **In Naruto arms was the prone figure of Sasuke who was not looking good. Half his face was burnt and he was fatigued. But that was quickly dealt with the injection of the Kyuubi's chakra into his body. Recovered from his injuries, Sasuke stood beside Naruto as the golden fox exploded in a burst of purple. The violet clashed with gold as it enshrouded the massive fox, wrapping it in what appeared to be samurai amour. With a violet blade in hand, the Nine-tailed Demon fox roared and charged into battle.**

The screen sputtered and vanished, returning back to the scribbles of a sealing matrix. A tense silence was in the room as the Third contemplated as to how to begin the tale of what truly happened the night of October tenth.

* * *

 **Hey guys!**

 **Sorry about the absence. The thing is I got caught up writing my new story I had uploaded as I wanted to reach a certain point in that story before I averted my attention elsewhere.**

 **I hope you like this installment.**

 **-Gregorybryce9**


	7. Chapter 7 - The Secret

**Ladies and gentlemen, your new installment of Flash Forward: Naruto edition is here.**

 **Enjoy!**

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The Third hokage had long since passed his prime. It was an undeniably fact he had accepted years ago yet despite that fact, somehow he always found himself in situations that seem to drain the life from his weary bones. Perhaps it had started all those years ago when his prize student Orochimaru had been caught red-handed for his crimes. It was a moment of utter disbelief and shame for him to accept the fact that the pale-skinned shinobi that he had thought to be a second son was could stoop to such atrocious levels. He had hesitated in the decisive moment and now, one of the world's most dangerous criminal was at large because of his moment of weakness. He had found a brief reprieve when Minato had accepted the mantle of hokage and allowed the aged hokage a well earned retirement. Those few years he spent with his beloved Biwako were bliss compared to his younger days on the battle field. But that too came crashing down on his head when the Kyuubi had attacked. News had reached his ears that the monster was freed from his chains and that his wife had passed away - murdered, he had learnt a day later.

That fated day had seen the fall of one of the greatest kages and the birth of a new jinchuriki. Hiruzen had been forced to retake the hat that night and lead his village once more. As the years passed and his strength - both physical and political - waned, he found himself dreading for the future generation. It was an undeniable fact that he had learnt from one of the sensei, the Second Hokage himself, the no matter the era, there is always war. He had hoped that the stoic Senju had been wrong in his philosophy but yet again, his sensei had been proven right.

 _'I'm getting far too old for this,'_ The aged hokage thought.

Looking over at the young genin, he could clearly see the divide that had somehow occurred between them. A large gap had made itself known between Naruto and the others - with the surprising exception of the Uchiha heir. Most of the genin were giving the boy wary glances, clearly unsure of what to do with the now stated fact that someone, one of their own had some connection to the monstrosity that had almost caused the end of their village. The Hyuga heiress herself was giving the boy an apologetic glance, obviously having been drawn from his side by her teammates. It was truly a sad sight.

 _'It's human nature to fear what we don't understand,'_ Hiruzen thought, _'But that doesn't make it justifiable to cast such a heavy burden onto a young child,'_

"It would seem that without a doubt, the scenes from the last viewing have shed light upon a subject I had hoped would have remained a secret until much later into the future," the old man spoke, grabbing each person's attention. The Third rose from his seat with his signature robes draped over the back. Clad only in his battle armor, he no longer looked like the most powerful leader in the Elemental Nations, but like a weary war veteran, tired of seeing the bloodshed of his enemies and comrades alike. "And I have no doubt it has placed a lot of confusion in the minds of the genin."

"I had truly hoped that this day would never come but it would seem that the world we live in his not one built on dreams, not matter how much we wish it so. What I am about to say within the confines of this room is a S-rank secret. Meaning, if you utter a word of it to another person, you will be killed on the spot. No exceptions!" he commanded and grimaced when the rookies gulped visibly. He hated threatening children, but they were shinobi now, and as such, had a duty to their village and its leader. "Am I understood?"

They nodded slightly.

Inoichi was the first to protest, just like Hiruzen had suspected. "Hokage-sama, if I may, you can't possibly be talking about _that_ secret?" he asked, making an unnoticed nod into Naruto's direction.

The Hokage only nodded and Inoichi paled. "Surely Hokage-sama, there must be another way?" But the man stood steadfast, it was a mistake all those years ago when he had made the council aware of the Naruto's status and no doubt and subjugated the boy to a childhood of isolation. The truth needed to be aired and hopefully they would accept the boy for what he was.

A hero.

It was a risk. But one he was willing to take.

"What secret are you talking about daddy?" Ino asked, but knew it had to do with Naruto and the Kyuubi. But there no way the goof-ball of their class was somehow connected to the terror of the Leaf? Right?!

"Nothing sweetheart, just listen to Hokage-sama, okay,"

The kage of the room cleared his throat. "There are many things that have been fed to the public that were not entirely accurate. One such example would be the Kyuubi attack that occurred 12 years ago. It was decided that the entirety of the public, including the shinobi and civilians alike would not be told of the true events of the night as not to spread panic in an already chaotic situation. At the time, it had seem to be the right decision to make, but now I see we were nothing more that fools."

That shocked all the occupants on the room. Especially the adults. They had thought that they had been privy to all that truly happened that night but now they were being told that they was a bigger secret than Naruto being the jinchuriki.

"On the night of October the 10th, a young kunoichi had went into labour, her name being Kushina Uzumaki," That had obviously caught Naruto's attention. "Kushina Uzumaki was a highly skilled kunoichi who had reached A-ranked status and the nick-name 'The Bloody Red Death'. What many did not know about jounin Uzumaki was the fact that she was a jinchiruki as well."

"What does this have to do with the Kyuubi? What the hell is a jinchi- whatever the hell that word is you said anyway? Is it some sorta bloddline?" Kiba barked out, clearly growing impatient from the impromptu history lesson.

"This as a lot to do with the Kyuubi pup, and a jinchuriki is the name given to someone who hosts one of the tailed beasts within them," Tsume barked and her son shrunk within himself.

 _'The power of a tailed beast within someone... just thinking about that blows my mind,'_ Sasuke thought, before he glanced at his pale teammate. There was no doubt in his mind that the blond class clown was the new jinchuriki of the Kyuubi. And if that woman's name is anything to go by, she's his mother as well. _'You seem to get more interesting by the second, dobe.'_

"What most don't know is that when a female jinchuriki gives birth, the seal that holds the beast back destabilizes and weakens, giving the tailed beast an opportunity to break free if left unattended. Plans had been put into place that the birth would take place outside of the village, in an undisclosed location and under the surveillance of the village's seal master who was also the father of the child being born, the Fourth Hokage himself,"

That caught the the adults in the room flat-footed. If the mother was the previous jinchuriki whose last name was Uzumaki that claerly meant that Naruto, the prank king from Hell, was the secret son of their greatest hero whose story was surpassed only by that of the First Hokage.

Damn! Talk about a shocker.

"Jiji... all this time... all this time you knew... " his voice was so small that it sounded like a wounded animal but the hokage clearly heard his question and couldn't hide the flash of guilt and stab of pain his words brought. His words brought confused glances from the genin and pitying from the adult. They no doubt knew what was going on and could only look sadly onward as a boy finally learnt the truth of what had truly happened the night he had been born.

"Naruto-kun ple- " the elder asked but was cut off from Naruto's harsh glare.

"I trusted you. Every time I would ask you if you had known them and you told me... I TRUSTED YOU DAMMIT AND YOU LIED TO ME!" he raged at the man he considered his grandfather. Was everything else the man had told him was a lie as well? Was it all some sick game to him? To mess with the young blond's feelings?

"Naruto-kun, please calm do- "

"NO!" he shouted, unknowing as his eyes flashed red and scared most of the occupants half to death. "You don't get to tell me what to do anymore. EVER AGAIN!" His rant would have continued if not for the hand that caught his wrist. Spinning on his heels to confront the bastard that dared touch him, he was greeted with the stoic visage of _the_ bastard. Sasuke.

"Let go." he commanded. His voice had dropped flat but the edge was sharper than a wind blade. Whether it was foolish or not, the Uchiha refused forcing the Uzumaki to lock eyes with his onyx pair. Naruto wasn't sure what had calmed his nerves, but the next thing he knew, he was sitting calmly beside his teammate. Sure, their seating was still isolated from the rest of the room but they didn't care. Their was a silent contentment they felt in each other's presence.

 _Like brothers._

The hokage sagged back into his chair with a defeated look. No doubt the words had cut deep and the man seemed to have aged a decade in under a minute's time. He had always thought that the decision to not inform Naruto of his parentage had been the right call - perhaps the only right call - he had made that night but yet it had somehow lost him the love of his surrogate grandson. Naruto was a forgiving boy but Hiruzen was worried whether or not this new attitude would be permanent.

Kami he hoped not. It was bad enough that his own son could barely stand to be in his presence on the worst of days, and if it went on like this, sooner or later, even Konohamaru might end up leaving the man. No, those were bad thoughts he'd rather not have now.

"Like I was saying before, many things that were released to the public were either half-lies or completely incorrect," he droned on, his tone of now woefully different than before. " The first you can guess is that the Kyuubi was not killed,"

"If it wasn't killed, then what happened to it?" Sakura asked while inner-Sakura thought _'I have a pretty good idea where this is going. And I don't like it one bit.'_

"The Kyuubi is not a living organic creature, but rather a massive sentient construct of malevolent chakra," the Hokage began to explain. "We have no idea if the Kyuubi can be killed but we are sure that if that were possible, then it would no doubt reform somewhere else. The only guarantee we had to stop the attack was to seal it away."

Silence settled into the office. It was finally out. It was without a doubt that all the genin had understood the hokage's implications.

"Seal it away? Into what" Kiba asked.

Maybe not all of them...

"Into Naruto. The Kyuubi was sealed in Naruto."

* * *

 **OMG The wait for this chapter was way too long and even I agree to that. I'll do my best to try and shorten the time for the other updates and I will try my best to update at least two more of my other stories before next Monday.**

 **I'm so sorry you guys had to wait that long. I had been caught up with prepping for my CXCs (look it up if you don't know what that means) and SBAs (School Based Assignments; again look it up if you don't know what it means) that I just lost interests in my stories. If you want to thank anyone, thank my English teacher who gave me a 500 word short narrative piece to write for an assignment that re-kindled my passion for story-telling.**

 **Signing off**

 **-Gregorybryce9**


	8. Chapter 8 - Shikamaru

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

 **Enjoy...**

* * *

Shikaku Nara was an exceptionally smart man. The clan head was a person whose intellect had few equals and he himself knew that. Now while in the shinobi world, this often led to one becoming arrogant and a feeling of invincibility, the jounin commander of the Leaf Shinobi Corps was nothing of the sort. Many had attributed that to being humble, but it was probably due to the fact that he couldn't really care less about such things.

The man had risen through the ranks at an accelerated pace through no fault of his own, but rather through necessity. He was raised during a time of war and was forced to either become strong or die trying. And if there was anything that he had learnt from his numerous years on the battlefield was that having trust in your comrades was absolutely necessary. It was a common principle that was driven in his head that camaraderie and teamwork was the bread and butter of Konoha's foundation. And right now, the divide between the kids was absolutely sickening in his eyes.

'It'll only get worse before it gets better,' he thought with a inward sigh. Honestly, he respected Minato as his hokage and one of the few men to have bested him in shogi, but there were days he had to wonder if the blond haired kage had left his brain on stun. Surely the man had to have realised the political and psychological backlash the knowledge of who the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki was would have had on the village and the toll it would have played in the young vessel. Now, his best friend's secret child was forced to live a life of loneliness and rejection while he could do nothing to stop it.

Well... not anymore.

With an over exaggerated yawn and a forceful kick to the back of the chair, he forced his son out of his seat and onto the sealing matrix. He smirked at his son's grumbling as he straightened his jacket and dusted off his pants.

"Well will ya' look at that. Shikamaru wants to go next," the scarred jounin drawled. When his son tried to protest, Shikaku sent him a glare that looked only more menacing when coupled with his battle scars. The argument quickly died on the tips on Shikamaru's lips.

Yoshino merely raised a brow at the interaction but said nothing against it.

The Nara genin walked slowly over to the sealing matrix as though it was the plague. He wasn't sure what he would see in his future and honestly, it both terrified and intrigued him. He had woken up this morning expecting that today's meeting would have been some sort of standard orientation into the life of a shinobi, yet in the span of a few hours, his whole life had been flipped upside down.

His sensei had died before he could have met his own daughter and the fact that his death had such a massive impact on the team showed that the man was someone Shikamaru had come to trust and rely on. Not only that but the dobe of the class and the guy Shikamaru barely paid attention to unless he was talking about a way to sneak out of class was apparently the vessel of the horror of the Leaf.

Shit like that could really mess with your perception of things.

Shikamaru would have liked to have said that the information didn't change things but he himself knew that was not true. After today, he would probably never look at Naruto the same way again. This was not to say that Shikamaru hated the blond. That would just be stupid in his eyes. No, Shikamaru however, was wary in his presence now. He knew that the Fourth hokage was considered as a prodigy with no equal but he couldn't stop the smidgen of fear that trickled into his mind whenever he saw those whiskers on his classmate's cheeks and finally knew what they meant. Yet at the same time, he had seen that he had gone on to become Naruto's advisor. That surely indicated that future him had to have known about Naruto's tenant yet accepted the blond as he is. Was Naruto not as dangerous as the village had set him out to be? Or was it that future Shikamaru had no knowledge of the Kyuubi sealing? The latter seemed the least likely but was still a possibility. Just thinking about made him want to bang his head against the wall in frustration. There was too many factors to considered in such a short time and he honestly didn't know what to think.

Like he had said before, shit like that could truly mess with your perception of things.

"Alright Shikamaru, you already know what to do so just go on now,"

Shikamaru lips thinned into a line at the hokage's words. The absolute dread in his enunciation sent shivers down the genin's spine and he felt pity towards the aged leader. He had never looked too closely at Naruto's situation (which was something he was regretting now) but he along with everybody else in the village knew of the man's pseudo relationship with Naruto and Shikamaru could only imagine the hurt the man must be feeling at Naruto's callous words.

It wasn't his problem though. After all, it was a well known fact that everything concerning Naruto was too troublesome to deal with.

He nodded as he flooded the seal with his chakra, satisfied with the blue glow that it gave off. Now he just had to step back and watch.

 **The older Nara walked at a sedated pace as he manoeuvred through the bustling crowd of the busy streets of Konoha. The advisor for the Seventh Hokage had a resigned look on his face that was not uncommon for him, something the villagers concluded was the result of having to deal with Naruto's antics everyday. He had both hands in his pockets and his lips slowly turned downwards in a frown.**

"Hey Shikamaru, what's bugging ya' ?" Kiba asked. This was the first time that a genin had spoken aloud since the revelation and it seemed a heavy fog was slowly being lifted. The parents that were huddled in behind their children slowly loosened up, not realizing when they had gotten so tense.

It would take a while, but the room was slowly returning back to some semblance of normalcy again.

"How should I know?" Shikamaru retorted. "Its not like I know what's going on in this scene,"

"Ohhh... right,"

 **He suddenly stopped. His head tilted upwards and his eyebrows furrowed in thought. Like a electric shock had ran through his system, his left hand spasmed and his right eyebrow twitched.**

 **His _Uzumaki senses_ were tingling.**

 **Uzumaki senses. Something he had developed over the years due to excess amount of exposure he had to certain members of the slowly reforming Uzumaki clan (*cough*Naruto*cough*). In simple terms, it was his body's way of telling him that a massive amount of stupidity was about to head his way due to an Uzumaki. And seeing that he was in the middle of his lunch break, he had no intention of getting involved this time.**

 **Yet, as soon as he was about to take off in the direction of his clan compound, a blur of shocking blond hair zoomed pass, sending him spinning like a zig. Seconds later, a black and red blur shot passed with a feminine shout of 'I'm sorry!' as she sped off in pursuit that sent him tumbling to his buttocks.**

Shikamaru blushed as his mother snickered at his predicament with Ino following her example.

The two women - who Shikamaru mentally dubbed the 'most troublesome of them all' - caused a domino effect as most of the occupants joined in.

All except Naruto and Sasuke.

 **He growled in anger as he slowly stood up and dusted off his pants. He had immediately recognized the two. Boruto and Sarada. No doubt the two were up to something. And if he were to guess, Boruto had probably suggested that they do something that would probably only add to his stress-load and Sarada had probably tagged along to make sure he didn't get in too much trouble.**

 **Honestly, the two kids were just as troublesome as their fathers were at that age in Shikamaru's opinion.**

 **But he decided to put that thought aside as his Uzumaki senses were still tingling. Now that didn't make sense. Boruto had just ran by him, so why were his internal alarms still blaring. The only logical reason he could think of was that there was another troublesome Uzumaki on the way. And that could only mean... Oh no.**

 **A man jumped from the top of a nearby building and landed in front of him. As the man slowly stood up from his crouch, Shikamaru knew his day had just gone to shit.**

If a pin dropped in the room, Hiruzen was sure that everyone could have heard it.

The room was dead quiet. No one dared to move. As they gazed into the smiling face of an older Naruto, they were reminded of the secret that was revealed a short while ago. Now, they couldn't really fit the persona of a raging demon to the smiling face of their future hokage but human instincts dictated that there should a large amount of fear and wariness whenever Naruto was concerned.

Shikamaru himself had finally reached a conclusion on his stand towards Naruto. As he watched his future-self converse in small talk concerning the location of his son, he realized that without a doubt, he knew of Naruto's special condition and could not have cared less. It was clear to see that both men had a deep bond between the two and Shikamaru had accepted his friend for what - no, for who he was. And he could understand why. While the blond may be loud and brash and all-around annoying, he was still a treasured comrade and friend. He felt the nerve wracking feeling of guilt seeping in his system and really wondered why he had even considered the fact that Naruo was anything but... well, Naruto.

Sparing a glance back at his father, Shikamaru decided to show where he stood on the matter. Standing from his seat, he moved his chair over towards where Naruto and Sasuke sat, sparing both of his former classmates a small smile as he took his place beside them. He ignored Naruto's shocked yet hopeful gaze. He ignored Sasuke's curious yet suspicious gaze. And he pointedly ignored the other genin gazes of shock and apparent betrayal. What he did take notice of were his parent's and the hokage's looks of appreciation and pride and the feeling of content he felt at his choice.

"What are you doing Shika?" Ino asked, an unfamiliar edge to her voice.

"I'm sitting," he replied with a lazy drawl.

"I meant what are you doing over there with... him. Don't you know what he is?" she snapped, unconcerned about her father's slowly growing frown. It was already bad enough that Naruto had somehow tricked Sasuke-kun to his side, she wouldn't allow for Shikamaru to be used either.

"Of course I know what he is," Shikamaru replied and Naruto deflated, knowing that being accepted was too good to be true. Expecting Shikamaru to call him a demon, the blond genin was surprised when instead, the Nara defended him.

"He's my comrade and a fellow ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village. He's the same person that he was an hour ago and he's the same person that he was a day ago. His name is Naruto Uzumaki and he's my friend!"

At the end of his speech, most were left silent. They have never heard the apathetic boy speak so passionately about something. Beside him, Naruto was driven to tears, thankful that there was at least one more person who accepted him. He was in for another surprise when both Choji and Hinata moved their seats and sat near him, Hinata to his immediately left and Choji beside Shikamaru.

Maybe this viewing thing was a good idea after all.

 **"So let me get this straight... " Shikamaru asked, "For some reason beyond my comprehension, you decided that it would be a good idea to agree to your son's suggestion of having a village-wide game of hide-and-seek with his friends?!"**

 **"Uh-huh,"**

 **"During the Five Kage Summit?! The most important gathering of all the villages leaders in shinobi history,"**

 **"Yep,"**

 **"All because you were bored. BORED?!"**

Hinata giggled into her hand while Choji had no reservation to laugh loudly at his friend's predicament.

Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome,"

 **"Well when you say it like that... " Naruto whined with a pout.**

 **Shikamaru deadpanned, a dull look in his eyes. "Go jump off a cliff... head first... and break your neck... " he said.**

 **Naruto waved him off. "Baah, I already did that at the Valley of the End when I was 13,"**

"Wait what?!"

 **Shikamaru stared. ".. I hate you, you troublesome blond."**

 **"And I love you Shikamaru," Naruto teased.**

The screen sputtered out of existence and another silence pursued. With no volunteers, a certain someone stood up.

"Fine... I'll go next!"

* * *

 **There you have it, another update. I know that you've realized by now that this chapter didn't really go in depth into seeing the future. That was all planned. This was more about character development for Shikamaru and his decision on whether to stand by Naruto or follow the genin teams lead.**

 **For those looking for some Temari and Shikadai screen time, just wait a little while longer, it will be coming.**

 **Now before you all roast me for the teams division from Naruto, you must remember that this is not the same characters you know from the series. The characters in the series have gone through a lot of life and death situation with each other and have grown to trust their comrades inexplicably and as such, when Naruto's condition was revealed, they had accepted him.**

 **In this case, they haven't. As much as I love the cast of Naruto, I have to admit that most of them were mean little jerks in the beginning. Many outright hated Naruto and those that didn't only tolerated his presence. It wouldn't make sense for them to be all accepting of his situations when it had been hinted at some underlying feelings of disaccord.**

 **In the case of Shikamaru, I can see where he would go about his decision on a logical standpoint. In my opinion, Shikamaru is one of the series most loyal characters. He stood by Choji through all the bullying. He helped raise Naruto's spirit after Jiraiya's death and was there for Naruto during the war at certain points. He's an awesome character and is one of my personal favorites.**

 **In Choji's case, I simply see him following Shikamaru's lead, nothing more really. Any friend of Shikamaru's is a friend of Choji.**

 **No explanation needed for Hinata.**

 **In regards to updates. Due to exams starting tomorrow, I won't be able to update in about two weeks. A long time to week, yes but expect quicker updates when it all over and done with.**

 **Review, Favourite and follow**  
 **-Gregorybryce9**


	9. Chapter 9 - Neji

**Hey there, how you doing?**

 **No, I'm not dead and neither is this story cancelled. It was just a case of e getting caught in whirlwind of my other stories and my sudden interest in Code Geass fanfiction that led to me not updating as soon as possible.**

 **I sincerely apologize to you guys for having made you wait do long (since late November) for an update and I hope you guys are still with me. For those who are, thank you for your support. You guys are the reason why I'm still here.**

 **Good news. I've almost reached the 1K mark on the number of followers and favorites and if this happens, Flash Forward will be my second story to have done so on . And if you're reading this on Wattpad, I've passed the 20K mark and this makes it my most popular story by a landslide on that site.**

 **Fanfare and celebrations my friends, you've made the writer I am to today! I have nothing but love for all of you guys out there.**

 **So without further adieu, I give to you, the Neji chapter...**

* * *

Neji ignored the looks from his uncle, cousin and teammates as he walked towards the sealing array. He knew for a fact why they were looking at him like that. His abrupt shout about wanting to go next had caught them off guard, but to be totally honest, he had surprised himself as well. At the beginning of the meeting, he had already resolved into taking a turn into seeing his future, the hokage had ordered it after all. But he was not looking forward to it. I mean, who would want to see themselves living a destiny that fate had already decreed, as nothing more than a servant.

But those thoughts were quickly thrown out the window on the first future he had seen.

He had of course heard of Naruto. For a brief time, the boy had been in his class when he tried to pass the Genin Exams for the second time and had failed. From what Neji had heard, he had only passed this year on a technicality and was the year's dead-last.

Simply put, he was destined for failure.

Yet the boy had grown to become the village's Seventh Hokage and was extremely powerful, possibly even surpassing the First Hokage. An event like that was unprecedented and should not have happened, yet it had (or will happen? Time travel was confusing)

That had managed to shake his belief in fate, but the boy would have chalked it up to the boy being an anomaly. Yet, it happened again. The shy and weak-willed Hinata had grown into a being a confident mother of two who could stand proudly beside such a powerful figure.

Again that defied the wheel of fate.

With his belief being shaken at its core, Neji felt something he hadn't felt since the death of his father.

Hope.

Maybe... just maybe, there was chance for him.

A chance for what exactly? He had no idea but something... more.

Was he selfish for his thoughts? For hoping for a _life_ beyond the grip of the Hyuga clan? For a family to call his own?

All he wanted, was to _live_ a _long_ and happy life...

... Fate was cruel mistress...

The seal once again glowed a brilliant blue as the boy pumped chakra into the seal. He took a step back as the kanji of the seal warped into a blank screen. He waited for a few moments for something to happen but was disappointed as the screen remained blank. His confused expression deepened when, instead of the vivid scenes of the future, the screen sputtered and fell apart, returning to their indiscernible kanji.

The room fell quiet.

Behind his desk, the Third Hokage expertly hid his grim expression with decades of experience. His job was not a pretty one. He had served as the hokage for years now, even during the Third Great Shinobi war and he was no stranger to seeing his men being befell by tragic fates. He had sent countless men to their own deaths for the village's sake and mourned their sacrifices with a brave heart and a steeled face.

Death wasn't a possibility but an inevitability in their line of work.

He had grown used to the cold grips death had on them but could never truly justify it.

It was the first time that something like this had happened to the time/space jutsu but Hiruzen was certain of what had happened. The screen could not show the boy's future because he simply had no future to see.

"Hokage-sama,"

The boy's tone was so cold it sent a shiver down the man's spine. No child should ever go through what the young Hyuga was experiencing. In a perfect world, they wouldn't have to sent children out to fight. In a perfect world, children would worry more about what toys they had rather than how many kunai they had left. It broke the old man's heart when he realized his sensei's dream had yet to come pass.

"Yes, Neji-san?"

"Has the seal malfunctioned?"

"I- " Hiruzen was about to lie to the boy and say he had no idea what had happened to the seal, but the situation with Naruto had stopped that train of thought. He had realized how withholding the truth had served more bad than good. "No Neji-san, the seal has not malfunctioned,"

"... I see."

"However, perhaps a change in the formula would perhaps produce different results," the Third recommended and Neji found himself with a decision to make. Did he want to see what the improvised seal would produce for him? Or was he better not knowing?

"... I would like to give it a try, Hokage-sama," Neji answered with a curt bow, and Sarutobi went to work, switching around a few kanji for another and completely erasing a few from the formula completely. It had taken a few minutes but it was finally completed. He motioned for Neji to stand beside him before instructing the boy to give it another try, and this time, the seal glowed a brilliant white (1).

 **Himawari walked with a slight spring in her step, a bouquet of sunflowers in her hand. Behind her, Hinata kept up with her daughter's pace easily. The two had just returned from a stop at Naruto's office and were on their way to go about the rest of the day's activities.**

 **"Kaa-san, do you think Neji-ojisan will like these flowers?" the girl asked**

 **Hinata smiled. "I'm sure he'll love them sweetheart,"**

"It looks like a continuation of Hinata's future," Kurenai commented.

 **The mother and daughter pair walked briskly towards their destination, the midday sun being their only companion. The village passed by in a blur as they made their way to their destination. Soon, they turned off in a large plot of land. The grass was a vibrant green and small walkways could be seen making a network within the area. The reason for this were the many rectangular blocks of stone rising from the grounds.  
**

 **Those were headstones which marked graves.**

 **The place was the village's cemetery.**

Neji had known the fate that had befell him when the screen had failed to show his future the first time around but refused to believe it. He didn't want it to be true but here was. The proof he needed.

TenTen could feel the tears running down her cheeks yet made no move to clear them. Neji was dead, and she didn't know what to say about it. During the Academy, she had nursed a crush on the boy which had simmered down to admiration since becoming his teammates. Despite his flaws and cold exterior to most, he was one of her precious persons and the main source of normalcy in her world.

She didn't know when she had moved but found herself hugging the boy from behind, her arms clutching at his chest. She felt his shoulders tense at the contact but he made no motion to remove himself from her embrace. She buried her head in his shoulder and cried for the loss of her teammates.

"NEJI!" Lee's wail of distress was expected. The boy had rivers of tears flowing from his round eyes and his lips were quivering from sadness. "Say it is not so my eternal rival!"

He blurred from sight, slamming into his two teammates as he wrapped them in his strong arms. His tears were pouring even harder and had managed to soak the two other members of Team Gai.

Neji felt the typical bout of irritation to Lee's antics but couldn't find the strength to stop the excitable boy. Even when he was being drowned in his tears, Neji allowed him to do so; to express his devastation of what was to be. He had expected the boy to do so after all. What he didn't expect were the third pair of arms that enveloped him. He only caught the glimpse of dark hair and lavender eyes that confirmed the identity of the person.

"H-H-Hinata!" he exclaimed in a rare stutter.

The girl's sobbed in response. "I don't want you to die, onii-sama!"

Neji didn't know how to respond to any of this. There was so much emotions going all that all he could do was stand there while they hugged him.

He wasn't totally against that idea.

 **They had arrived at the chosen tombstone and were replacing the old sunflowers with new ones that Himawari asked a question that had Hinata reeling for a moment.**

 **"Kaa-san, how did Neji-ojisan die?"**

 **Hinata stopped still for a moment, as memories flashed by in whirlwind of nostalgia.**

 **"I never did tell you how he died, did I?"**

 **The girl shook her head in a negative response.**

 **"Well you see, it happened years ago, when I was 16. Your father had just returned to the village after his training trip when we heard news that the Kazekage was kidnapped,"**

 **"Gaara-ojisan was kidnapped!?"**

The Third hokage frowned, which was something that Kurenai noticed. "Is something wrong hokage-sama?"

The man nodded. "The current Kazekage is Rasa. He does, however, has a son named Gaara. It is most unusual that the boy would grow to take his father's position,"

Kurenai was confused. "Why is that Hokage-sama? A son growing up and inheriting his father's position doesn't seem unusual,"

"Normally I would agree, but that was if Gaara was a normal boy to begin with... " he trailed off.

"What does that mean?" Ino asked, now interested in what made the boy from the Sand all that special.

"Never mind, it's nothing to worry about," Hiruzen replied, not wanting to tell the girl any more about the bloodthirsty genin. She had already made her stance against jinchuriki clear and he would not cause her to have any preconceptions about the troubled boy of Suna.

 **"Yes he was, but your father was able to rescue him. It was then we found out that there was a group of bad men who were targeting your father. You see sweetheart, your father holds a very special type of power in his tummy, and these bad men wanted to capture him so they could take it away from him."**

The symbolism wasn't lost on anyone and Naruto felt exposed when most in the room would take a glance at him.

 **"BUT THAT"S NOT FAIR!" the young Uzumaki shouted.**

 **"I know sweetheart, but that's what happened,"**

 **Himawari was confused. She had yet to see how this led to her Neji-ojisan dying. "But Kaa-san, how did this lead to Neji-ojisan dying?"**

 **"I was getting to that. You see, there are eight other persons in the world who have the same special power like your father, and the bad men went around capturing them all. But there were two that they couldn't get. The first was your father and the other was a friend from Kumo named B. So when the bad men couldn't capture those two, they decided that they would ask for the kages to hand them over. The kages refused to give your father up and the bad men decided that they would wage a war against us. This was the start of the Fourth Great Ninja War; The five Allied Shinobi villages vs the Akatsuki.**

"Sweet Kami! To think the five villages would ally with each other just to take out one group!" Tsume exclaimed.

"They must have been a group of S-ranked nuke-nins," Shikaku concluded, his lazy expression gone from his face. "This is just two troublesome. A group of S-ranked nuke-nins with the power of seven bijuu. Just our luck,"

 **"Your uncle died during the war, saving both mine and your father's life. He did this because he loved us... and I'm sure he would have loved you too."**

 **"REALLY?!"**

 **"Really,"**

Neji was stunned as the last words were uttered and the screen went blank. It hadn't returned back into the seal array but he paid that no mind. His thoughts were on what Hinata had said.

That he had given his life for her.

Because he loved her.

So caught in his thoughts that he hadn't realized that screen had once again sprung to life until he heard the shout of an unfamiliar voice

 **"Wood Style: Cutting Sprigs!"**

The Third eyes popped open with shock. There was someone out there who could use Mokuton. Impossible!

 **A hail of sharp wooden sprigs were propelled from a long arm. In the trajectory of it all, a teen with long black hair spun in rapid succession. A dome of chakra protected him from being penetrated like the others around him but it would not last he would give out and he would join the others in death's embrace.  
**

 _ **'So many. My rotation won't keep up,'**_

It was Hisashi's turn for his eye to pop open from shock. It was preposterous! How had the boy learned the rotation. It was considered a Main Branch technique.

 **His concentration flattered for a moment and one of the spikes made it through and nicked the headband off his head and revealed the seal on his forehead. He would have suffered worse had it not been for the arrival of a dense blue ball of chakra with spinning blades of wind around it.**

 **"RASENSHURIKEN!" Naruto shouted as he arrived on the scene, before he threw two more of the chakra constructs, obliterating the wooden spikes in the sky.**

 **But he fell to his knees, chakra exhaustion hitting him hard. A lone spike sped towards him but was shattered by a strike from Hinata, who had appeared behind Naruto on the battle field.**

 **Before he had time to thank her, the loud screams of dying men made them flash their heads to the left, only to watch as the same hand sweep its way towards them, crushing those that stood in its way.**

 **"Eight Trigrams: Air Wall Palms!"**

 **Hisashi announced his arrival with a jutsu, forcing back the arm before it could reach the teens. His effort was for naught however, as another arm rose in retaliation, this time a smaller but more compact attack being launched.**

 _ **'Damn it! A focused attack,'**_ **Hisashi thought, watching its trajectory, concluding that it was aimed at Naruto. He watched in horror however as his own daughter stood over the boy, arms outstretched as a protective barrier.  
**

"Hinata!" Naruto shouted, for the first time showing the most emotion since the reveal. He turned to the girl who had move to sit beside him and for the first time recognized the love and devotion she held for him. "Hina-chan,"

 **His face paled further when he heard the familiar shout of 'Byakugan!' as Neji threw himself in arms way, resolved to save his cousin and the boy she loved. He would later call it a heat of the moment thing, but Hisashi swore he saw a fiery aura, shaped like a bird, that shrouded his nephew as he made the ultimate sacrifice.**

 _ **'Forgive me, Hizashi... I let Neji... "**_

 **[SQUELCH!]**

A sharp intake of breath was Neji's only reaction.

 **"Medical Team! Where are you? We've got a critical injury here!" Naruto shouted in a panic. "Hurry!" Neji's body was propped against his, the Hyuga's head resting on his shoulders.**

 **"No... I'm no longer," Neji tried to speak but his voice was quickly fading. In front of him, Hinata fell to her knees in silent horror, tears running down her face.**

 **"Naruto... Hinata-sama is willing to die for you... "**

 _ **Hinata choked back the sob that came, listening reverently to her cousin's last words as tears ran down her cheeks.**_

 **"So... you hold more... than one... life in your hands... "  
**

 _ **Neji's eyes dimmed further. His voice grew frailer.**_

 **"And it seems... that my life too... may have been... one of them... "  
**

 _ **Naruto blinked back the tears pooling in his eyes, a question on his lips.**_

 **"Why Neji? Why would you go so far for me? Even give up your life?"  
**

 _ **Neji smiled. It was a smile filled with blood. A small laugh rumbled off his chest.**_

 **"Because... you called me a genius... "**

 _ **The seal faded. Neji felt relief. He was free.**_

 **"Tou-sama... I finally understand... the freedom you felt... choosing to die in order to protect your loved ones."  
**

 _ **His head slipped from Naruto's shoulders. His eyes closed forever.**_

 _ **The caged bird flew free once more. And it flew towards the heavens.**_

 _To be continued..._

* * *

(1) The color white is associated to death in Japanese culture, which was why the improvised seal glowed white for Neji instead of blue.


	10. Chapter 10 - Kakashi

**Another chapter up and ready to go for you guys, so without further adieu, we have the Kakashi chapter...**

 **Let's go!**

* * *

Neji wasn't aware when he had started to cry until he felt the wet tears run down his cheeks. He made to clear them but the strength in his entire body was gone. How had it come to this? Just this morning he was expecting for a normal day as a genin but had ended up watching his own death. A death he had chosen in the place of his cousin. The same cousin he hated and blamed for most of the bad things that had happened in his life.

His legs gave out from underneath him and he stumbled backward. He would have fallen if TenTen and the others had released their hold on him. He had grown so used to their warmth that he hadn't realized that they were still holding on to him. Now the crying from the three had returned in earnest and Neji failed to feel the annoyance he would have in any other situation.

Even more surprising was the grim expression he noticed on Naruto's face. The two had never gotten along and Neji was sure that it was his own attitude that caused that. But here he was, showing genuine remorse at what the screen had shown.

"Perhaps... it would be best of we took a short break from the viewings," the Third suggested and Neji felt himself nodding along absently. He tried to make his way back to his seat but Hinata, in a rare show of resolve, had dragged him over to her spot beside Naruto, and by association, the entirety of Team Gai as well.

It was a few minutes after that Kakashi spoke up. The man's voice was monotonic in his delivery and Neji watched half-absently as the man allowed his chakra to flow into the array, lighting the room in a brilliant blue hue before fading once more.

Another future was being shown.

 **Kakashi Hatake, the Sixth Hokage of the Leaf Village, once again found himself at his desk. It was the usually place to find the shinobi, as was the same for his predecessors. The job was a taxing one which was not for the faint of heart and it had suited well for the silver-haired man.**

 **But an anomaly in the picture that most could easily recognize was the lack of paperwork on his desk.  
**

"That is odd," Asuma spoke up. The man's grip on his future-baby-mother and current girlfriend had tightened. Death would only make you appreciate life more.

 **It was a well-known fact that the workload required as the hokage was far more than any other position of power within a ninja village. So legendary was the task, that many were under the assumption that the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, had built the forest around the village for the sole purpose of supplying a steady stream of trees for the production of papers used by the Hokage.**

 **A bit far-fetched but yet completely understandable.**

 **So why was it that Kakashi had been able to acquire the small moment of refuge, you might ask? Well, it was due to months of planning and the ability to be an arse and shove all the work on his assistant.**

Naruto snorted under his breath. He had not known the man long but that seemed like something that Kakashi would do.

 **It was totally not an abuse of power. That was Kakashi's stance and he would stick to it.**

 **The lanky man rose from his swivel chair and stretched upwards, working out the aching muscles and tense posture he had formed from a day's work. Sparing not a second, he reached for his white robe he had hung behind his chair and with a single flourish, threw it on over his jounin uniform that he still wore. It was different from his original (which had been a flak jacket). This was more robust in nature, with a green padding for his chest and back with a gray collar that ran down the length of his shoulders. Unlike the leaders before him, Kakashi till wore his forehead protector, but rather than the customary stylish leaf on the metal plating, he embellished the kanji of 'shinobi'.  
**

"Kakashi my eternal rival, you make for a great Hokage. Very fashionable!" Gai beamed, and Kakashi felt a bit uncomfortable by the compliment. The most he could do was give a short nod and inched just a tad further away from Gai.

 **"Ah!" he sighed as the low creaks echoed softly in the room. "Gotta get out of here before Shizune figures it out and skins me alive." He took a moment to survey the room, making sure he had everything he needed, before, totally untraditionally, he opened the window that leads to a small ledge outside his office and leaped through.  
**

Mebuki raised her hand as though she was a student in class. "Um, Kakashi-san, why didn't you just use the door?" she asked.

Kakashi stared at her as though she had just asked the world's dumbest question. "Why would I want to use the door when there's a window?"

Mebuki ducked her head in embarrassment when the other jounin snickered under their breath.

 **It was a particularly sunny day and Kakashi was glad that he had scheduled to take the afternoon off. As he strolled through the grand village, he felt a sense of nostalgia rise in his chest. So overcome by the feeling, Kakashi had even pulled a familiar orange book from his pouch and buried himself nose-deep into its contents.**

"Can't believe our Hokage is an unrepentant pervert," Kurenai huffed from her spot.

 **It had been so long since he had done anything remotely like this. It had been far too long since he took a peaceful walk through his own village. Most of his time these days were spent cooped up in that dreaded office. Honestly, he couldn't wait for the day that Naruto would succeed him.**

 **It was long in coming after all.**

 **"Lord Hokage!" A shout caused him to pull up short. Kakashi turned on the spot, surprised at the call. Most of the villagers (while awed at his presence) usually avoided calling out to him. He had garnered an infamous reputation during his time as a jounin not to mention his exploits as an ANBU that were completely exaggerated upon his retirement from the special forces.  
**

 **"Ah, Shikamaru. What can I do for you?"**

 **Shikamaru was dressed casually. The jounin was garbed in a bland beige shirt with dark trouser and his black sandals. Hooked on his arm was a woman who looked a few years his senior. Her blond hair was caught in four pigtails and her sharp emerald eyes seemed to twinkle with a hint of mischief. She was pressed up rather snug against the Nara and Kakashi could tell the signs of a small blush on the man's cheek.**

Yoshino's eye's sparkled at the entrance of Shikamaru and Temari. "Is that my daughter-in-law? Wow, she looks like a keeper. Great child-bearing hips!" she tittered. Shikamaru groaned out loud at his mother's comments. _'Of course she would say something like that,'_

"We're not sure if she's the girl that I end up marrying in the end, mom," he piped up. The girl was beautiful, no doubt. And he was sure that his future self was very attracted to her, but he wouldn't give his mother the satisfaction of knowing that. If she had an inkling that he had met someone wife-worthy, then Shikamaru knew that comments about grand-babies would soon be on the way.

The Hokage stroked his goatee. "I'm pretty sure that this woman is your wife-to-be Shikamaru. In Ino's future, we heard her say that your wife's name was Temari. I had thought that the name sounded familiar and now I know why. The Kazekage had three children currently: Gaara, Kankuro and Temari. There is no doubt that the woman we are seeing right now is a grown up version of that Temari."

Yoshino rejoiced. "Oh I can't wait to see my grand-babies!"

Shikamaru groaned even louder.

 **"Nothing really Hokage-sama. It's just that Shizune caught up with me and told me to pass along a message to you," the perpetually lazy shinobi.**

 **Kakashi paled. "She did?"**

 **"Yeah. She said that she'll forgive you this time, but if you ever think about trying that stunt on her again, she'll flay you alive. She also said something having to deal with this with Lady Tsunade when she was Hokage so there's no way she's putting up with this for you," Shikamaru informed the man who at this point was scratching the back his neck rather sheepishly.  
**

 **Before he could reply, the woman at Shikamaru's side spoke up. Her voice was strong and commanding, but the mischievous timbre in her tone was undeniable.**

 **"Is it that the great Lord Sixth leaves a lot of angry kunoichi in his wake?" the woman teased, and Shikamaru groaned silently as she raised a coy brow at the man. He was not looking forward to this.  
**

Most of the shinobi laughed at the comment and Kakashi felt put-off.

"I like her, she's a keeper Shikamaru!' Naruto said

 **Kakashi, however, was nonplussed by her teasing. He was a mature adult who read porn in public without giving a damn. There was no way he would allow such juvenile teasings. He had a reputation on the line here.  
**

 **"They might be angry but they are surely satisfied, I can guarantee you that Temari" he retorted and he watched as the blond released a loud bark of laughter.**

 **"Too true. Too true," Temari chuckled as she led Shikamaru away by the hand.**

 **Kakashi watched the 'not-couple' made their way through the crowd. He returned to his book shortly after as he continued on his walk. His mask shifted slightly as he reached a certain page and was just about to read the 'good' part when he heard the loud shout of his former student calling out to him. Immediately, he slipped the book into his pouch and turn to face the exuberant blond with a withering glare.  
**

 **"Naruto," he greeted as the boy approached him. He had taken a moment to cast a glancing eye over the teen the boy had grown up to be. He was no longer the runt of the group, easily being the tallest of them all at his current height. A distinct change was the fact that he had decided to cut his hair short to avoid being a carbon copy of his father. He wore a black military vest with a single orange zipper running down the middle. As pants, he donned a pair of orange shinobi pants rolled up to his shins and black armored sandals adorned his feet.**

Hinata blushed a crimson red at the appearance of her future husband and found herself anxious for the future. Naruto as he was know was perfect in her opinion, but after seeing an adult version of the boy and a young adult version... let's just say that Hinata just found herself some new fantasy-fuel.

Tsume let out a wolfish whistle. "You clean up nice, gaki! Strong and tall too. You're parents would be proud," With the secret out now, Tsume was sure that making comments about the boy's heritage was no longer prohibited. It was nice to be able to talk of her late friends again and she was sure Naruto would appreciate learning more about his parents.

 **Naruto raised a hand in greeting and in doing so, displayed the red armband with a black swirl on his sleeve.**

 **"Yo Naruto!" Kakashi returned the greeting, presently forgetting the fact that the teen had interrupted his reading. "What are you doing here?"**

 **Naruto raised a brow as though Kakashi had just asked a stupid question. Throwing a single arm over his shoulder, he thumbed in the direction of the ramen stand he frequented. "It's lunch time, Kakashi-sensei. I'm just here to eat something,"**

 **"Then why are you outside?"**

 **"Waiting on Sakura-chan,"**

 **Kakashi raised a brow in a single question and Naruto waved off his concerns. "Don't worry. It's lunch between two friends. Hinata knows about it,"**

Hinata blushed an atomic red as Naruto threw an arm around her. "As if I'd ever cheat on Hinata!" the boy declared and Hinata was sure everyone in the room could hear her heart racing. _'N-Naruto-kun.'_

 **"Seems like a Team Seven reunion in the making," Kakashi jested but found out that Naruto could be remarkably stubborn about something he set his mind on. In the span of a few minutes, Kakashi found himself seated in between Naruto and Sakura with a bowl of ramen before him.**

 **"What have my cute little students been doing these days?"**

 **Sakura laughed at the man's words, remembering the times they spent as his genin students. "I don't think you can call us your 'cute little students' anymore Kakashi-sensei,"**

 _'Hell yeah, we're not little anymore, cha!'_ Inner-Sakura roared to life.

 **"Yeah, we're all grown up now!" Naruto interjected.**

 **"You're right, you guys aren't my naive genin anymore," Kakashi spoke with a small nod. "Plus Naruto is anything but cute~"**

 **Naruto shouted in protest while Sakura and Kakashi laughed at his expense.**

 **"I'll have you know I'm very cute! Hina-chan said so herself!" he bragged, but his words only sent the two into a new fit of laughter.**

As it did with the viewing party. Hinata buried herself into Naruto's side to avoid the laughter. As she was snuggled up close to her future husband, she noted he was a lot warmer than she expected. For a brief moment, she wandered if that was due to the fox being inside him. _'That just makes Naruto-kun even more special,'_

"Hey, Hina-chan, do you really think I'm cute?" Naruto whispered to her.

"O-Of course, Naruto-kun,"

The boy beamed at the compliment. "Thanks! I think you're pretty cute too!"

 **As the laughs dwindled, the three settled into a comfortable silence. The only sounds being the low sounds originating from the kitchen and the slurping sounds as they indulged in their treat.**

 **Not soon after, the three had finished their meals and were on their out, off to do their own things. Before they could leave, however, Sakura spoke up, a look of silent contemplation on her face.**

 **"This was nice. It's been far too long since we did something like this. Being together as a team, I mean," the pinkette explained, but still, the look on her face had yet to recede.**

 **"You're right. It has been too long," Kakashi agreed. Oddly enough, he was the only one of the trio to leave with something, a single serving of ramen packaged to go.**

 **"Speaking about Team Seven Kakashi-sensei, when was the last time you heard from Sasuke-kun?"**

"Huh, what about me? Am I on a mission or something?" Sasuke asked.

 **Her words caused the atmosphere around the trio to still. Frowning, Kakashi looked towards the sky where a single raven circled overhead. "He hasn't checked in for a while now, almost a whole month. Don't worry, I'm sure he's alright,"**

 **"I know that. Sasuke's strong, he can take care of himself. It's just that... he's a part of the team too, it feels wrong to do things like this without him. I know the things he did were wrong but- I just... " she trailed off. She was toeing the ground nervously as she spoke and Kakashi was reminded that while Sakura had grown from the avid fangirl she once was, Sasuke would always have an effect on her.**

 **A hand reached her shoulders and Sakura was forced to look into the gentle gaze of the Sixth Hokage. "I know Sakura. But Sasuke made a lot of bad choices in his life and did things he's grown to regret. He's trying to redeem himself in his own eyes. Give him time and I'm sure he'll return, okay."  
**

"You guys make it sound like I'm a missing-nin or something," Sasuke commented.

For the first time since his peek into the future, Neji spoke up. "Maybe you are." Seeing the cautious glances he was receiving, Neji made to elaborate. "The way they speak of you, it seems as if somewhere down the line, you'll make a bad choice that will ultimately cause you to leave the village. But, while you've been cleared of any wrongdoing, you have set yourself on a self-exile, perhaps to gain redemption."

"That's a lot of info to draw from a few sentence of conversation," Sasuke replied, a bit awed from the Hyuga's deductive skills.

Neji smirked. "My eyes can see everything, Uchiha," he bragged and Sasuke felt like pouting.

But as you all know, Uchihas do not pout.

 **With a watery smile and a small nod, Sakura left to return to her post in the hospital while Naruto left in search of a training field. Kakashi however, left in the direction of the village's gates. With a brief nod to the men at the gates, he left the boundaries of the village and made for a small clearing just south of the walls at a sedated pace.**

"Where ya' going Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked and the man shrugged. Of course he wouldn't have the answer, this hadn't even happened yet.

 **Landing from the trees without a sound, he took a second to survey the place and smiled fondly at the figure of the man who was clearly waiting for him.**

 **The man was tall, about an inch above Kakashi's stature. His garments were hard to discern because of the tattered brown poncho he wore over them, revealing only the light blue pants beneath. His head was wrapped in a blue cloth, with a tuft of inky black hair falling in his face, falling between his eyes. He possessed heterochromatic eyes, with one being black and the other a rippled royal purple.**

 **"Sasuke,"**

"You look like a hobo," Naruto commented and Sasuke cuffed him upside the head.

"Hey! Don't call Sasuke-kun a hobo, you idiot!" Sakura yelled in the defense of the man of her dreams and was frightened by the smoldering glare Sasuke sent in her direction. He might end up marrying the girl in the future, but future Sakura and this girl were entirely two different persons. The sooner she realized that, the better.

Plus, Sasuke had not forgotten where she stood on the matter of Naruto and the Kyuubi. If she was gonna hate Naruto, then Sasuke was sure he wanted nothing to do with her.

 **The man responded to the name with a low grunt, making his way over the Kakashi. Without a word, he slipped his hand into his poncho and produced a scroll which he handed off to Kakashi. The Hokage hardly spared the document a second glance before locking eyes with the shinobi once again.**

 **"She misses you, ya know. I don't know how long you plan to have her wait, but I can guarantee you she won't wait for much longer. Maybe it's time for you to come back."**

 _'With the way she's acting now, maybe never,"  
_

 **Sasuke made no indication that he heard but Kakashi was sure he did. He might have tried to hide it, but Kakashi could clearly see the thoughts whirling around in the back.**

 **Sasuke made to leave but Kakashi stopped with a word. "Here," he offered the small bento he had in hand. "A little something from Team Seven."**

 **The Uchiha scrutinized the box under his gaze for a few moments before he accepted it. "Thanks... and I'll think about it."**

 **A blink and he was gone.**

 **Kakashi lingered for a few moments before making his way back to the village.**

 _ **'You guys may not be the cute little genin you once were, but you'll always be my students.'**_

* * *

 **There you have it, chapter 10 is complete.  
**

 **You know what to do,**

 **Review, Favorite and Follow,  
-Gregorybryce9.**


	11. Chapter 11 - The Road to Reconciliation

**It** **is** **with** **a** **jubilant** **heart** **that** **I** **say, I'm** **back** **bitches!**

 **Yes** **yes, I've** **return** **from** **the** **depths** **of the** **after** **life** **to** **bring** **to** **you** **the** **next** **installment** **of** **FF: NE.**

 **I** **hope** **you** **like** **it** **seeing** **as** **how** **it** **will** **be** **a** **bit** **different** **than** **the** **others** **to date. Plus** **with** **the** **fact** **that** **I** **wrote** **this** **on** **my** **phone** **rather** **than** **my** **laptop. (For** **some** **shit** **reason** **the** **stupid** **thing** **won't** **turn** **on)**

 **Without** **further** **adieu... onwards** **we** **go.**

* * *

As the scene faded and the jutsu returned to its kanji form, Kakashi took a moment to truly drink in what he had just seen. The implications he could draw from the sneak peek into the future was enough to draw the grey-haired shinobi to a halt.

Since the deaths of his teammates and sensei, it had become a universal fact that Kakashi Hatake did not work well with others. It was one of the reasons why he had joined the ANBU corps soon after. The Inu mask was more than just a porcelain figurine, but rather a metaphorical mask that had rid the world of his identity.

When the mask was on, Kakashi Hatake was no more.

Perhaps it was cowardly, but it gave him a sense of relief. There in the ANBU corps, he was no longer the son of the White Fang, student of the Fourth nor the child prodigy he was hailed to have been. No, there he was simply Inu.

Kakashi knew he wasn't the most social person. He had many acquaintances and comrades but the only person he could call a true friend was Might Guy (and wasn't that saying something) but even that bond was solely attributed to the fact that Guy was a stubborn son of a bitch who wouldn't take no for an answer.

Saying that Kakashi was someone with a boatload of friends was like saying that Orochimaru wasn't a pedophile.

But then here he was, watching his future self willingly making an effort to further his relationship with his students, even going as far as to offer relationship advice.

Honestly, he wasn't sure which was more surprising, this or the fact that he had been named the Sixth Hokage.

Make no mistake, Kakashi had been resigned to the fact that he was enlisted as a squad instructor. He would have simply failed the team like he had done to the myriad before them but with the likes of Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki on the roster, there would be no escaping the fate. But at the same time felt that if he gave the bare minimum required effort that all would be well.

But somewhere along the line, he had somehow grown to actually care about the genin team in a way he had not for years past.

"Hokage-sama, I believe it would be prudent for us to take a break at this point," he spoke up, and was relieved to see the man nod in acceptance.

Good, Kakashi needed a moment to gather his thought at this point.

* * *

Teuchi was no mind-reader like the Yamanaka clan, but as his favorite customer walked in through the curtains, he was sure something was up. The boy was a lot more subdued than usual and hadn't even shout out his order like he normally did.

But on the plus side, he wasn't alone. This was the first time he had seen Naruto with other kids his age and even he could spy his daughter in the corner wringing the hem of her apron with excitement. Ayami was of the belief that Naruto was quite the endearing young man despite his rough edges and would lament for the day he brought friends to the small ramen establishment.

Putting on a smile (with his eyes still closed), Teuchi greeted the boy with a wave and a welcoming gesture.

"Hey there Naruto, how've you been?" he asked as the blond saddled the stool behind the counter. To his immediate left, the young Uchiha took up residence with the heiress of the Hyuga clan to his right.

It was an odd sight indeed.

Naruto smiled. "Its... been different old man," he admitted, his hand scratching the nape of the neck. "Being a genin is whole lot different than I expected."

Teuchi raised a brow. "How so?"

Immediately, he noted the small look trepidation that crossed the blond's face and caught the odd look he shared with his companions.

"I'm sorry Ichiraku-san, but we're not at liberty to say,"

This time it was the young Shikamaru who had spoken. He was seated next to Sasuke with his loyal pal Choji on his other side.

Teuchi ignored Ayame's small noise of indignation, instead observing the children - no shinobi that took up residence in his stand.

After a small moment, he nodded.

"So what can I get you then? I'm guessing the regular for you, Naruto?"

A nod was all he needed and he could hear his daughter rushing off to fulfill the order.

"I would like w-whatever N-Naruto-kun is having," the Hyuga heiress spoke.

"Same," was Sasuke's curt response.

Shikamaru shrugged. "I don't really care either well, just get me something that would kill me from sodium poisoning,"

Choji told a while longer to decide before he finally slammed the menu he had picked up on the counter. "Get me two servings of your Pork Lover's Ramen special, please," the Akimichi ordered.

Teuchi nodded with a small grin. "So that'll be 3 orders of Miso Chashu Pork ramen, 2 orders of the Pork Lover's special and a bowl of shoyu ramen. Is that all?"

"Add another shoyu ramen to that list, Teuchi?" a voice spoke as the person made their way inside.

"Hokage-sama!"

"And could you make it to go?"

Teuchi nodded. "Of course, Hokage-sama," the chef said as he too made his way towards the kitchen area, leaving the group of genin and their leader alone.

As he watched the wary glances being sent his way, Hiruzen felt as old as he truly was. He had allowed for this to happen. It mightn't have been intentions but it was saying that the road to hell was paved with good intentions. In his attempt to honor a late father's and leader's wish, he had ostracized an innocent boy and now he was reaping what he had sown.

Most at this point would've just backed off now and allowed for Naruto to replace their severed bonds with new ones, but over the years of looking after the blond, he had come to see him as a grandson - just like Konohamaru was. It pained him to see Naruto angry and it was a twist of the kunai to be the one the jinchuuriki was angry at.

"Naruto-kun, may I speak with you?"

Naruto made no signs that he had heard the aged kage but the Third smiled as he shuffled off the stool and made his way towards him. Of course, Sasuke made to follow, resulting in the hokage to raised a palm.

"Peace, Sasuke-kun. I wish to speak to Naruto alone,"

As Sasuke made to speak, Naruto held out a hand. "It's fine, teme. I'll be okay,"

The Third smiled thinly at his words truly wondering if Sasuke believed he would have ever intentionally harmed Naruto. Instead of pondering on those words, he clasped a hand on Naruto's shoulders and in a swirl of green leaves, they were gone.

* * *

"Can you believe that knucklehead!"

Sakura sat beside her former love-rival and childhood friend as she ranted on the topic that was one Naruto Uzumaki. The pinkette of Team 7 munched listlessly on the sandwich in her hand as she thought over what she had seen so far.

On one hand she had married her first crush and the boy who was undoubtedly the love of her life. Sasuke Uchiha was everything the pre-teen wanted in a boyfriend. He was mysterious, cool and so strong. He had finished at the top of their year and was just so handsome. It was her dream come true.

But on the other hand, she had just learned the fact that the annoying blond who used to consistently hound her for dates was the container of their village's worst nightmare. To think that the Nine-Tailed fox was so close to her all this time... she just shuddered to think of the implications?

Yet... why was there doubt in her mind?

It was simple... right? Naruto contained the fox so that meant Naruto was evil.

 _"He's my comrade and a fellow ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village. He's the same person that he was an hour ago and he's the same person that he was a day ago. His name is Naruto Uzumaki and he's my friend!"_

Yet, Shikamaru's words were still ringing in her ears. Was the lazy Nara right? Was Naruto just a comrade? Looking back at the years she had known the whiskered face genin, she realized that the answer came a lot sooner than she had expected.

Yes he was.

"He was right," she mumbled, but Ino - being right beside her - heard what she said.

"Eh, Sakura? Who was right?"

"Shikamaru. He was right about Naruto," she explained.

"What are you talking about!" Ino exclaimed. "Don't tell me he's used some sort of mind-control on you too, Sakura. He's the Kyuubi. He can't be trusted!"

Sakura laughed. It was a sad tone, with a hint of bitterness. "If he was so evil Ino, do you really think the Hokage would've allowed him to live in the village?"

"Well, no."

Here, the pinkette stood. "And if he wanted to hurt us, wouldn't he had done it already? I mean, he's had a lot of chances with us being in the same class, yet the most evil thing I've ever seen him do was when he put itching powder in Iruka-sensei's pants,"

Ino frowned, not liking the implications. "I guess not," she admitted. "But what about the Kyuubi? He still has it inside of him,"

Sakura shook her head. "The Kyuubi and Naruto are two different things. They're not the same,"

Ino paused, a look of hesitation on her face. "So Naruto isn't evil?"

Sakura giggled. "No. He's annoying, no doubt. But he isn't evil,"

* * *

Naruto fell to a slump atop the head of the Fourth Hokage while the Third simply stood behind him. Neither spoke, content to simply revel in the moment's peace. The wind picked up, causing Naruto's blond spikes to sway in the breeze while the hokage's cloak fluttered softly.

"Your father was an orphan that was brought to village when he was young. I don't really know much about his life prior to that but I am aware that during his time at the Ninja Academy, he was quite an excellent student,"

Naruto made no sounds as Hiruzen spoke. His eyes were closed and his fists were clutched in a tight grip.

"Your mother on the other hand, was from The Village Hidden in the Eddies. It was her clan's home. She was moved here so that she could become the next jinchuuriki when the one before her died. She had bright red hair and violet eyes. She was a lot like you and she would shout dattebane whenever she got excited,"

Naruto let out a strangled sob, but Hiruzen pretended to not have heard. It showed how truly starved of affection the boy was, and the Third would not speak out about it, content to let him have a moment.

"They fell in love when they were teenagers. The war was just beginning to pick up and the Cloud village decided to try and kidnap her because of her clan's chakra. Your father was the first one to notice that she was missing and had rushed off to save her, single-handedly beating up the entire Cloud team. Since then, the two were inseparable.

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

Hiruzen winced at the tone. It sounded so defeated and weak that he would not have believed it belonged to Naruto if he hadn't seen the boy speak.

"I was a fool. When they died Naruto, the village was in turmoil. If persons were to know that you were their son, I feared you would not have been able to live to see the next sunrise. Your father may be seen as a hero to the Leaf but to other villages, he was the boogeyman. If word had gotten out that his son was still alive and vulnerable, then no doubt assassins in the multitude would have been at your crib. Not to mention the fact that your status as the fox's jinchuuriki, there were many - both home and abroad - who would no doubt try to use you to their own agenda.

"I did what I had thought was best. If you were seen to the public as only an orphan, then the threat of foreign assassination attempts would be gone. I had stricken all connection to your father off the records so that you would be able to live as normal a childhood as possible. I'm sorry to say that I've failed you, Naruto,"

Naruto said nothing in return, allowing to words to sink in. He rose slowly to his feet, looking over the village as he did so. The scent of the forest that surrounded the village was fresh on the wind.

"Did they love me?"

"To their dying breaths,"

Suddenly the boy slipped his hand into his pouch and drew a kunai. Without hesitation, he stabbed the tool into the back of his right palm, allowing the blood to trickle down his hand.

"Then I swear on my parent's legacy, I'll become the hokage that surpasses all other hokages! That's a promise, -ttebayo!"

The Third chuckled softly. He had already seen the boy become hokage but even of he hadn't, the raw conviction in his tone was enough to convince him otherwise.

"I'm sure you will, Naruto."

* * *

 **There, another chapter down and out.**

 **Not much to say so until next time, you know what to do...**

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-Gregorybryce9**


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